The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Effutu, James Kofi Annan, is urging the Electoral Commission to promptly conduct a comprehensive audit of the 2024 Effutu constituency voter register. He is also requesting the immediate deletion of all individuals illegally transferred onto the 2024 Effutu voter register and a re-exhibition of the updated voter register to ensure accuracy and transparency. Annan’s demands aim to address concerns of irregularities and ensure a fair and credible electoral process in the Effutu constituency.
Mr Annan, claims that 3,009 voters were secretly added to the voter’s register without the knowledge of the NDC. He states that the official voter transfer exercise, which took place from May 30 to June 14, 2024, resulted in 6,218 transfers, according to daily printouts shared with political parties.
Also a three-day mop-up exercise, conducted from July 3-5, 2024, for students and security personnel, added 846 new voters to the Effutu register, bringing the total number of official voter transfers to 7,064 (6,218 from the initial exercise + 846 from the mop-up). Notably, Effutu recorded the highest number of voter transfers in the Central Region. However, during the subsequent voters’ exhibition, a discrepancy was uncovered, revealing that the total number of transferred voters had unexpectedly surged to 9,897, raising concerns about the integrity of the voter registration process.
He alleged that the Electoral Commission covertly added 3,009 voters to the register without the NDC’s knowledge or consent. He further claimed that this incident is consistent with their long-held belief that the Electoral Commission has been manipulating the electoral system in the Effutu constituency to favor the NPP. Annan cited the 2020 elections, where the Effutu voter register was allegedly inflated by approximately 20,000 voters, most of whom remain on the register to this day.
He emphasized that the NDC will not tolerate any further illegal additions to the register, suggesting that they will take action to prevent such manipulation.