NDC goes to the Supreme Court over voters’ register

The National Democratic Congress has decided to resort to legal action in its ongoing tussle with the Electoral Commission (EC) over the new voters’ register.

The party said it strongly disagrees with the EC’s decision to accept only passports and the Ghana Card as the legal requirements to register for the voters’ register.

In a writ filed at the Supreme Court, the NDC wants “all existing voter identification cards duly issued by the 2nd Defendant (EC) as one of the documents serving as proof of identification for registration as a voter for the purposes of public elections”.

Interpret Article 45 (a)

The NDC further prayed the court for a true interpretation of Article 45 (a) of the 1992 constitution.

The party is seeking a declaration on whether the EC has “the constitutional power to, and can, compile a register of voters only once, and thereafter revise it periodically, as may be determined by law”.

It also wants the Supreme Court to declare whether the Commission “can only revise the existing register of voters, and lacks the power to prepare a fresh register of voters, for the conduct of the December 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections”.

. . . but isn’t the party preparing for elections?

Despite “fighting” the EC in court, the NDC has requested a training manual for voter registration officials from the Commission.

In a letter signed by the NDC general secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, the party also requested the training manual for political party agents to serve in the election.

“The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has become aware of an ongoing nationwide training exercise being conducted by the Electoral Commission to prepare its staff to be deployed for the conduct of voter registration prior to the 2020 General Elections,” said the letter, addressed to the chair of the EC.

“As a major stakeholder whose agents have important functions to perform during the exercise to ensure its credibility, we are by this letter officially requesting the Commission to supply the NDC with the above-named documents and any other material that would enable the party prepare our agents adequately for same.”

The NDC’s letter to the EC came as a surprise, considering the party’s strong opposition to the Commission’s decision to compile the voters’ register afresh.

E A Alanore

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