We won’t have more than 25 people at a registration centre – EC

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has said not more than 25 people, including EC officials, will be allowed at a registration centre within a time when they start the mass registration exercise.

According to the Communications Director of the commission, Sylvia Annor, the commission would institute all necessary safety protocols to protect Ghanaians against the pandemic while undertaking the mass voter registration exercise.

“At each point in time we will ensure that we do not have more than 25 persons including the officials at any registration centre,” she told Starr FM, Tuesday.

She further outlined some of the measures needed to be adhered to during the exercise.

“People coming to register will be given hand sanitisers before they enter the registration centre, you need to wear a face mask, without a face mask, you cannot enter a registration centre. There will be no crowding at the registration centre, I can assure you”.

Madam Annor also reaffirmed the commission’s position on its decision to exclude the existing voter’s ID Card as a proof of registration during the exercise.

“We are not using the old voters’ ID card, the voters’ ID card, some people argue, is not a good index for identification. It’s an established fact that the ID card is not a good index for proof of identification,” she said.

Several political parties, including the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have been on a campaign against the EC’s decision to compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 general elections.

The group of opposition parties, Inter-Party Resistance Against a New Voters’ Register (IPRNA) organised series of demonstration dubbed “Yenpene Demonstration” to compel the EC to drop its plans.

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations also waded into the conversation saying there was no need for a new voter roll.

Despite these stiff opposition, the EC insists the exercise must be carried out.

The NDC has alleged that the Electoral Commission and National Identification Authority were on an agenda to suppress votes in the strongholds of the party.

Addressing a news conference last week, National Chairman of the party, Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, alleged that the decision of the EC to push for the Ghana Card, birth certificate and passport as the primary documents required to register during the voters’ registration exercise was part of a grand scheme to rig the 2020 elections in favour of the governing NPP.

The EC and NIA have refuted the allegations.