A pro-democracy group, The Ghana Elections Project (TGEP), has backed calls for an independent audit of the voter’s register ahead of the December 7 General Elections. In a statement released on September 19, 2024, the group expressed its disappointment in what it described as the “Electoral Commission’s nonchalant attitude toward the call for an audit of the voter’s register.”
The Ghana Elections Project said, “The dismissive posture of the Commission in the face of such a call does not befit an independent constitutional body mandated to conduct public elections in a democratic country such as Ghana.”
The group issued the statement less than two days after the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) organized a protest, demanding an audit of the voter register. In response to the NDC’s request, the Electoral Commission has agreed to meet with the party’s leadership to address their concerns. However, The Ghana Elections Project has reminded the Electoral Commission that its role, according to the constitutional framework, is similar to that of an independent umpire. Therefore, any behaviour or statement that suggests the Commission is a biased institution should be disregarded.
“According to the recent Afrobarometer survey, the Commission, as it is presently constituted, is already least trusted. Therefore, the Ghana Elections Project would not expect behaviours that threaten the safety of Ghanaians and cast doubt on the credibility of the December 7 General Election results. The Electoral Commission must build public confidence in its work before and after the December 7 General Elections, and it should start with the voter’s register,” the group said.
The Ghana Elections Project has urged the Electoral Commission to “yield to calls for an independent audit of the voter’s register to ensure that no voter is disenfranchised in the upcoming election, as it did in the 2020 General Elections when residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Lolobi, and Likpe (SALL) were denied the opportunity to exercise their democratic rights.”
By: Publishing Desk
