EC refutes claims that 21,000 names have been deleted from voters’ register
The Electoral Commission issues a statement denying allegations by the NDC MP for Ashaiman that thousands of names have been erased from the voters’ roll
The Electoral Commission has described claims suggesting that 21,000 names have been deleted from the voters’ register as false and baseless.
The EC’s statement follows an allegation on Saturday by the MP for Ashaiman, Ernest Norgbey, that 21,000 names, including his own, could not be traced in the voters’ register for his constituency during the ongoing register exhibition exercise.
He claimed that the electoral body was intentionally removing names from the register to disenfranchise certain Ghanaians before the 7 December general election.
Checking mechanisms
However, a statement issued by the Electoral Commission has refuted the MP’s claims.
It said: “Our attention has been drawn to a public statement by the Ashaiman Member of Parliament on the provisional voters’ register for Ashaiman constituency. The MP is on record to have stated that the names of 21,000 registered voters are missing from the register.
“As with all voter registrations, a number of persons who register may find themselves on the Exception List and Multiple List.”
The EC conceded that it is also logically possible that on occasion names may go missing from the register.
“It is for this reason that the law incorporates and makes provision for the exhibition exercise and mechanisms such as the inclusion process, which allows persons who registered but cannot trace their names on the provisional register to file for inclusion,” the statement from the Commission said.
Norgbey is on the list
The Commission also published evidence of Honourable Norgbey’s details in the new voters’ register and presented a copy of the provisional voters’ register with the Ashaiman MP’s particulars to buttress its claim.
The EC said that the exhibition of the voters’ register, which will end on 25 September, is just one of a raft of measures aimed at addressing difficulties which may arise from the nationwide registration exercise.
Read the statement from the Electoral Commission below:
Electoral-Commission-19.9.2020-Ashaiman-Provisional-List-Contains-MP-Details
Fred Dzakpata
* Asaase Radio 99.5 – tune in or log on to broadcasts online.
Follow us on Twitter: @asaaseradio995
#asaaseradio #TVOL
