The First Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Justice VCRAC Crabbe has asked the opposition New Patriotic Party and all interested political parties to take advantage of the EC’s voter register exhibition exercise to help clean it, rather than call for a new one.
The flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akuffo Addo and his running mate, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia at a press conference on Tuesday gave reasons to back their calls for a new national register which they say is bloated hence lacks credibility.
[contextly_sidebar id=”FuNMXxJWjekSHM2PSGWShc5ra3koapFW”]Dr. Bawumia revealed that about 76,286 Togolese nationals have their names registered in Ghana’s voters’ register.
Speaking in an interview with Citi News’ Raymond Acquah, the former Supreme Court judge noted that the issue of a bloated register could not be completely addressed by merely acquiring a new register.
“When you register the people you have what we call the provisional register, that’s where the work should be done, that’s where you exhibit the registers because the electoral commission does not know everything,and it says I have registered people come and tell me who should be or not be on the register,” he said.
Meanwhile Justice VCRAC Crabbe has backed statements suggesting that some foreign nationals could have their names in the voter’s register,
“Is it possible for somebody to be in Ivory Coast and also a citizen of Ghana, the answer is yes, then there is a possibility that his name will be in the register in Ivory Coast and the register in Ghana,” he added.
The Electoral Commission is also expected to hold an Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting later today to discuss issues relating to elections.
It is unclear whether the EC will make public its decision regarding the petition presented to it by the NPP for a revision of the voter’s register.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citifmonline.com/Ghana