The National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Albert Arhin, has lauded the Electoral Commission (EC) for heeding up to the concerns raised by stakeholders in the just ended limited voter registration exercise.
Mr. Arhin says although the first two days of the exercise were fraught with delays due to technical challenges with the EC’s devices, the Commission, following reports from centres and concerns raised by people and civil society, put things in place to foster the processes in the subsequent days.
“For the first two days, it was not going smoothly in the sense that some of the equipment were not working well. The internet was not giving them good reception so people were doing offline registration and so on and so forth. So, initially it was chaotic, especially with areas they considered as being difficult,” he said on TV3’s Hot Issues Sunday, June 02, 2024, with Keminni Amanor.
He noted in some instances, “our people got there (registration centres) and the EC hadn’t even reach there. Some also got there and they had changed the venue of the registration so there were initial hiccups.”
However, Mr. Arhin stated that he admired the Commission’s reaction following the challenges to address the concerns that were raised for the exercise to carry on smoothly.
“…but what I admire about them is that they picked up, listened to all the advice and for example, the machines that were not working well, some were repaired and replaced. So, the exercise took off again till the day they finished, I think everything went on well.”
The EC ended its 2024 limited voter registration exercise on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
The exercise which span for 21 days, commenced on Tuesday, May 7, and was extended by two days to make up for the challenges that fraught the first two days of the process.
The Commission targeted 623,000 first-time voters to be enrolled in the national album ahead of the 2024 election.
Despite the initial technical challenges that marred the exercise on the first two days and on the last day, political party agents expressed satisfaction with the process, stating that they met their targets.
Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa, has emphasised the importance of compiling a credible voter register as election 2024 beckons.
She said that without a credible voter register, there can never be transparent elections.
Addressing a news conference in Accra on Monday, May 6, ahead of the 2024 limited voter registration exercise, Jean Mensa said the EC was poised to deliver a credible and transparent election.
“As a commission, we remain poised and ready to deliver credible, transparent and peaceful elections and electoral processes starting with the 2024 registration exercise.
“It is well known that the voters register is a bedrock of an election. Without a credible and accurate voter register, there can be no transparent and acceptable elections,” she stated
We don’t criticise EC sometimes because we don’t have the facts – CODEO
