NDC Threatens To Sue EC Over Limited Voter Registration

Director of Legal Affairs for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe says the party’s Legal Directorate will consider exploring legal means to challenge the legality of the Electoral Commission’s decision to hold the upcoming limited voter registration at its district offices.  

The Commission last week announced the commencement of a limited voter registration for eligible Ghanaians who turned 18 years after the 2020 registration exercise and other eligible voters from September 12, 2023, to October 2, 2023.

The NDC argues that if the EC is allowed to go by its plans, most of the new voters will be disenfranchised.

“The EC is applying the same law to only limit the registration to the district offices. We will explore all the available legal channels to ensure that we will get an outcome that will allow the elections to be more decentralized. We want to ensure that all our MPs are duly protected within the confines of our law, and we will definitely do that,” the Director of Legal Affairs for the NDC said.

Seven political parties in the country on August 21 were unhappy with the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to restrict the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices.

According to the political parties, such a move would disenfranchise a number of Ghanaians who have attained the voting age.

They want the commission to instead open up the process for the exercise to be conducted at the electoral areas.

The seven political parties have thus promised not to rest until the EC registers every eligible Ghanaian who has attained the voting age.

Some Civil Society organization and individuals have also called on the EC to make the process accessible to all qualified citizens to register.

The NDC Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North, Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah during a news conference also appealed to the EC Boss to make the process reachable to all communities in her area by establishing registration centres on all the islands in the constituency.

According to her, each qualified individual on the island will spend an average of Ghc 350 to the District capital, Donkokrom for the exercise if the EC does not reconsider its decision.

According to the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, the exercise would be held at all the 268 district offices of the EC across the country.