Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu, has alleged that the December 7, 2020 general election is likely to be run on a provisional voters’ register.
The Tamale South MP, addressing journalists in Parliament said per the Public Elections Regulations, 2020, laid on Thursday, the polls would be conducted on an uncertified voter roll.
“My reading of it gives me much to be concerned about. I state authoritatively without fear of contradiction that the 2020 presidential and parliamentary election is likely to be run on a provisional voter register and not a certified voter register.
This is because, in the definition column of the newly introduced regulation, which replaced Constitutional Instrument (CI) 94, registered voter in it is defined as ‘a person whose name appears on the provisional voters’ register,” Mr Iddrisu stated.
According to him, the definition of a voter in CI 94 is described as a person who has his or her name on a certified register.
His interpretation of this is that the Electoral Commission is behind schedule and might not go through all the processes of certifying the register before December 7.
“The implications and ramifications are that nominations for both presidential and parliamentary candidates will be on a provisional voter register and not a certified final register,” he noted.
In his view, “this means that if you are recommended by a voter, and subsequently the voter’s name is expunged or deleted, you may suffer consequences on election day that I am unable to explain.”
To Haruna Iddrisu, this exposes the unpreparedness, incompetence and threat of the EC to the sustenance of the country’s democracy ahead of the polls.
“I am urging the Ghanaian public to take interest in what is going on. Many of the registration centres are not functional, and we fear what we warned that many persons will be denied that inalienable right guaranteed under Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution. What this means is that we will suffer the inefficiency of the Electoral Commission,” he said.
Asked why he did not raise the concern at the Business Committee meeting, he said “there was an effort to define it properly,” a definition he said is alien to Ghana’s electoral practices.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
