The New Patriotic Party (NPP) is calling on the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC) to be “more transparent and ensure inclusiveness” in the run-up to the 2016 elections.
In a letter written to the Commission by Acting General Secretary, John Boadu, the largest opposition party demanded a formal correspondence from the Commission as regards its activities rather than resorting to the media.
The party raised four main issues:
“1. We have observed that the Commission is commencing voter registration in prisons across the country per letters emanating from some District offices. However, there has been no notification to political parties to inform them and have the opportunity to monitor this process as has been the practice.
“2. We request to know what modalities are in place towards foreign registrations for this year’s election as well as particulars of the existing foreign registrations done earlier by the Commission.
“3. We note a release from the Commission on challenges encountered with the ongoing Continous Voter Registration on the 19h August exercise and the decision to extend the registration hours to 8pm on that day and an additional day extention to the 27th of August 2016.
“We would have wished that much as the C.I 91 grants this activity of the Commission in consultation with political parties, the parties would have been duly notified/consulted before any such decisions are taken.
“4. The procedures announced for proxy vote has to be reviewed. The Commission directs that a prospective proxy can go to the Commission and pick up forms for the applicant. This should not be the case because of the inherent abuse.”
With respect to the proxy votes, the party expressed discontent over the inclusion of the headquarters of the Commission for applications.
“One wonders why the EC headquarters must be part of this as it’s not even a registration center.
“We want the Commission to engage with the Parties on this exercise to ensure effective monitoring.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @3Newsgh
