The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) has called on the Electoral Commission and all political parties to come to a consensus on the compilation of the new voters’ register.
National Coordinator of the Group, Albert Kofi Arhin in a signed statement indicated that the EC needs to consider the inclusion of the existing voters’ ID cards during the exercise.
This, he said would reduce agitation and build trust between the Commission and the parties before, during, and after the December 2020 polls.
“CODEO remains fully cognizant of the fact that the EC has the fundamental responsibility to deliver credible elections in Ghana.
“CODEO affirms its long-standing commitment to support the Commission to achieve this crucial mandate, through an election management process that fosters inclusivity, national peace, and mutual trust between the Commission and key election stakeholders.”
Touching on certain issues that need to be amended in EC’s Constitutional Instrument (C.I), Mr Arhin said the majority of Ghanaians do not have a valid Ghanaian passport or a national identification card.
Thus, the Commission should consider adding birth certificate and other documents instead of two guarantors since guarantors can exploit prospective registrants.
“CODEO recalls with consternation, the abuse of the guarantor system in previous registration exercises in which some registered voters turned themselves into ‘guarantee contractors’ vouching for the eligibility of all manner of persons who might be in fact unqualified to be registered.
“The same system tended to create extreme tension in the voter registration process, with some political party agents and activists physically preventing persons who lacked the requisite identification documents from registering, sometimes on the basis of mere suspicion,” he explained.
The National Coordinator therefore recommended that the EC should include the existing Voter ID card among the documents which could be used to prove eligibility to register.
This, he believed, “will help reduce the number of qualified persons who would have to rely on the guarantor system, and thereby, help reduce the incidence of confrontation and tensions associated with the guarantor system.”