The Electoral Commission has expressed dissatisfaction with leading political parties about the activities of their members in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise. This was made known when the Commission’s Deputy Commissioner, Bossman Asare, engaged the media on May 13, 2024.
According to the Commission, reports from officials on the ground indicate that political parties are influencing minors and also busing foreigners to the various centres to register.
“We continue to receive reports that minors and non-Ghanaians are being encouraged by certain persons who are members of political parties to register as voters. The Commission has seen a report from the Western Region specifically in Mpohor where some two persons who allegedly facilitated the registration of five minors have been apprehended by the Police.”
Bossman-Asare urged parents to ensure they educate their children on the laws and also restrain them from participating in the exercise if they are minors.
“We wish to use this opportunity to urge parents especially to dissuade their children who are less than 18 years old from registering as voters”.
The deputy Electoral Commissioner encouraged political parties to act fast on their members to desist from illegal activities. He said including foreigners and minors would invalidate the credibility of the register.
“Similarly, we beseech the national leadership of the political parties to discourage their executives in the regions and the constituencies from transporting minors and foreigners to the registration centres. The objective of the Commission as always has been to have a credible register for the 2024 elections”.
According to the Electoral Commission, “political parties as the main stakeholders in the general elections must be dedicated to supporting a credible register.” The Commission added that they “find attempts by parties to support the registration of minors and foreigners completely unacceptable and aimed at undermining the country’s electoral democracy”.
Finally, the Commission urged the Ghana Police Service to act on persons identified as foreigners and let the law deal with them. They warned foreigners and minors to stay away from the exercise to avoid facing the consequences when caught.
“We urge the Police to apply the laws on those who have been apprehended to serve as a deterrent to others in the enterprise of facilitating the registration of minors and foreigners. We want to urge the children who are not 18 years old that it is against the law for them to register as voters”.