NDC Justifies Lawsuit Against EC Over Limited Voter Registration

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has justified a legal action filed against the Electoral Commission over the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.

According to the NDC, the decision by the EC to restrict the exercise to its district offices was to enable the electoral management body to suppress votes and rig the 2024 polls.

It said it was for that reason that it had joined forces with four other political parties to sue the EC over the exercise.

The EC last month announced that it will begin a limited voter registration exercise from September 12 to October 2 in its district offices across the country.

The NDC and the four political parties on Thursday filed a suit against the Electoral Commission at the Supreme Court over the exercise.

The other four parties include the Convention People’s Party (CPP), All People’s Congress, Liberal Party of Ghana, and the Great Consolidated Popular Party.

The parties believe that the EC’s decision to restrict voter registration to district offices has the potential to deprive many eligible voters of their right to register to vote in public elections.

The parties have filed an application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the EC from proceeding with the announced limited voter registration exercise pending the final determination of the substantive matter.

Speaking in an interview in Accra on Thursday, the Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi, said: “You know why they want to do this? Because by restricting the registration centres to their district offices, it will be possible for them not only to suppress votes…but the second objective is to rig the process through gerrymandering.”

“Where the registration is done at the electoral area level, the key stakeholders in the process who are the political parties are able to recruit, train, and deploy polling agents who reside in that catchment area. And so if a person comes to be registered and the person does not reside in that area, they will be able to challenge that registration,” he stated.