The Electoral Commission (EC) has commenced the forum to hear the arguments by the various political parties and Civil Society Organisations \u00a0on the need for a new voters\u2019 register.<\/p>\n
The forum will see representatives of major political parties make presentations before a five member panel<\/span> <\/strong><\/a>stating their support or otherwise for the decision to obtain a new voters\u2019 register prior to the 2016 general elections.<\/p>\n [contextly_sidebar id=”yHO8shK4O4skT4Xi0GG33YCM280qlPOf”]The New Patriotic Party has been leading the campaign for a new voters\u2019 register.<\/p>\n They claimed that the current register is bloated and lacks credibility.<\/p>\n The NPP\u2019s call has also been supported by pro-opposition group, Let My Vote Count Alliance but the NDC maintains the supposed evidence put forward by the opposition NPP are unfounded.<\/p>\n Meanwhile the EC has tasked an independent IT expert to look into the alleged cases of bloated register<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, and has subsequently tasked a five member panel to consider the proposals and offer recommendations.<\/p>\n The panel includes:<\/p>\n 1.His Lordship Professor V.C.R.A.C. Crabbe, Co-Chair of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers, (CODEO), former Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana, former Professor of Law, and former Electoral Commissioner of Ghana;<\/p>\n 2.Most Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, former Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church of Ghana and Chairman of the National Peace Council;<\/p>\n 3.Grace Bediako, a former Government Statistician and former member of the National Development Planning Commission;<\/p>\n 4.Nii Narku Quaynor, a renowned computer scientist, Chairman of the National Information Technology Agency (NITA) Board of Directors, and President of the Internet Society of Ghana; and<\/p>\n 5. Maulvi Bin Salih, Ameer of the Ahmadiyya Mission of Ghana.<\/p>\n Objectivity of panel:<\/strong><\/p>\n In a related development, the NPP has also questioned the objectivity of some members of the panel whom they claim have declared their opposition<\/a><\/strong><\/span> to preparing a new voters\u2019 register.<\/p>\n Gabby Otchere Darko\u00a0 had initially suggested that the NPP would boycott the forum but Director of Public Affairs of the EC, Christian Owusu Parry told Citi News<\/strong> in an interview that\u00a0the EC is yet to receive any notification to that effect.<\/p>\n