EC to display provisional register within a month

Political page (lead) August 14/08

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE Electoral Commission (EC) will display a provisional voters register within a month to allow all those who registered during the limited voter registration exercise to see if their names have been captured.
This will be done after all the information from the exercise which ended on Tuesday had been duly collated and captured in a provisional register.
A highly placed source at the commission told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that “time is running out and we need to double up to ensure that we get a final register ready before the voting day of December 7.
The source said the EC had been overwhelmed by the number of people who registered, and therefore there was the need to double up to ensure that everything was done on time before the general election.
Meanwhile, it said the commission was yet to meet to decide on what should be done to those who could not be registered during the stipulated period as well as the extension from Sunday to Tuesday.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan, had been quoted on BBC as saying that when the provisional register was displayed, opportunity would be given to people to raise objections with regard to the names of persons they believed to be minors or foreigners.
This, he said, would enable the commission to come out with a register which would be acceptable to all.
It has been anticipated that the display of the provisional register could also spark another round of confusion as the various political parties in their attempt to keep an eagles eye on the register may cause a delay in the drafting of the final register for the elections.
The initial limited registration exercise was characterised by numerous conflicts as the parties, particularly the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the biggest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) , levelled wild allegations at each other.
They accused each other of coercing minors to register as well as ‘bussing’ people from one district to the other to register.
Their actions had raised ethical problems and compelled the Enforcement Committee of the Political Parties Code of Ethics under the auspices of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), chaired by the Christian Council of Ghana, to convene a meeting of the parties to resolve the issue.
The EC source said the commission was aware of the time left for it to have a final register, and was prepared to work around the clock to clear all hurdles before the voting day.