Political parties in the country are expected to present their proposals for a new voters register to the Electoral Commission (EC) today.
The Electoral Commission (EC) at an IPAC meeting months ago, tasked the political parties to make their proposals for the compilation of new register known by September 22, 2015. The Chairperson of the EC, Madam Charlotte Osei, said a workshop will be organized for the political parties and civil society groups to deliberate on the various proposals.
She, however, indicated that the “basis for coming to a decision at the workshop on the new voters register will certainly not going to be by vote,” since that will amount to abdicating the Commission’s responsibilities. “The law gives a lot of independence to the Electoral Commission and the reason for that independence is that the Electoral Commission should not act in the interest of one party or in the interest of all parties,” she added.
Madam Osei further clarified that the EC’s decision will be based on the soundness of the proposals submitted by the various parties. “We are assuming that the proposals that they are bringing will be very sound. So the soundness of proposals, the value for money proposition and whether it is generally reasonable and will promote credible elections are the things we will be looking out for.
“The Electoral Commission is always acting in the interest of Ghanaians. Our job is to create a level plain field for the parties and to ensure democratic stability and that is exactly what we will be doing so we cannot subject it to a vote. We will be listening to the parties,” she explained.
The NPP and PPP made calls for a new voters register to be compiled after the former alleged that about 80,000 Togolese nationals had been registered on the old one.
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