Afram Plains North MP outlines effects of EC’s voter registration modalities

The Member of Parliament for Afram Plains North, Betty Nana Efua Krosbi Mensah has outlined the effects of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) hold the upcoming limited registration in its district offices.

According to the MP, there are practical implications for this limited voter registration exercise if the EC proceeds with its current arrangements.

Below are the implication if the EC should go ahead with its planned modalities.

1. Eligible voters particularly women and young people who desire to enjoy their Article 42 rights will have to travel several kilometers by water and road to Donkorkrom.
2. For those who cannot make the journey in a day, they have to make arrangements for accommodation and leave only after they have been able to register. This is unpredictable since people will be traveling from all communities across the constituency to register not forgetting that people who do not possess the Ghana card will have to arrange and possibly travel with two guarantors to help them register.
3. The above also implies that eligible registrants will have to abandon school, work, and other economic activities for the days that they will be trying to register.
4. It will also come at a great cost to eligible constituents since they have to bear the cost of transportation, accommodation amidst heavy rain falls, and frequent accidents on the lake.

I believe that the EC by its current decision is denying persons who otherwise are eligible to register the opportunity to do so.

As a Member of Parliament, it is my considered view that the constitutional mandate given to the EC must be exercised in a fair and reasonable manner as to facilitate and not frustrate citizens’ right to vote. In this vein, the Electoral Commission, in the execution of its mandate ought to have a reasonable contemplation of the peculiar challenges of constituencies such as AFRAM PLAINS in the upcoming voter registration exercise and not apply a one-size-fits-all in its approach.

What is more surprising is that the EC in previous elections used helicopters to distribute election materials in these hard-to-reach island communities in the constituency. The Commission is therefore fully aware of the challenges and how citizens will be adversely affected if the registration is carried out in the manner that the Commission has proposed.

However, if for any reason the Commission is constrained by lack of human and logistical resources, the proper thing to do is to come to Parliament and make a justification for resources to do its work. I will be the first MP to advocate that the Commission should be provided with the needed resources to perform its constitutional mandate.

Conclusion

Given the above challenges associated with the EC’s modalities for the registration, I wish to, on behalf of the people of Afram Plains North, who I proudly represent in Parliament, appeal to the Electoral Commission through its chairperson, Jean Mensa to as a matter of urgency review the registration modalities for Afram Plains North, in consultation with the District Inter-Party Committee, by creating registration centers on all islands to facilitate the registration of voters. The deployment of mobile voter registration units as done by the Commission in 2020 is another option available to the Commission to consider.

Source: Today.com.gh