Accra, Jan 30, GNA - The Electoral Commission has refuted allegation of a bloated register in the Ayawaso Wuogon Constituency ahead of the by- Election on Thursday, January 31, 2019.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised concern of the bloated register ahead of the by-election.
However, a statement signed by Dr Bossman Asare, the Deputy Chairperson, Corporate Services, EC and copied to the Ghana News Agency described as untrue indications by the NDC that it was unable to access the Proxy List, Transfer List and Special Voters List.
Dr Asare said the NDC requested a copy of the said lists, late on Friday, January 25, 2019 when the activities at the Commission had winded down.
He explained that letters of such nature go through a process of recording at the registry before they are brought to the attention of the addressees, adding that requests for confidential information, required the approval of the Chairperson or Deputy Chairpersons before same are released.
Dr Asare said whilst the Commission believed in responding in a timely manner to request from the Political Parties, it would not compromise its processes and laid down systems for any entity.
“The Commission finds it surprising, that rather than approaching the Commission to discuss this issue, the NDC chose to go public, accusing the Commission of bloating the register to favour a particular Political party. These allegations are baseless and unfounded and we call on the public to disregard them”, he added.
“We wish to assure the public that, the Ayawaso Wuogon register is clean. It reflects the total number of valid voters in the Constituency. It is not bloated as claimed by the NDC. For the information of the public, the Special Voters List, Transfer List and Proxy list were contained in separate lists in 2016”.
He said the register had been combined with the main list, hence the increase in numbers and the Commission had since provided the NDC with all the registers they requested namely the Special Voters List, the Proxy list and the Transfer List.
Dr Asare said the NDC first requested a copy of the main register in December 2018, which was made available to them in December 2018,
He said the Commission observed the NDC’s consistent attempts to malign the credibility and integrity of the Chairperson of the Commission, Commission members and the Commission as a whole.
The Commission assured the general public that its operations were conducted in a manner akin to the values and beliefs of the NDC and as professionals at the helm of affairs, they had as the hallmark of all its operations, the values of Integrity, Fairness and Transparency and would abide by them even in the face of threats, opposition and intimidation.
“We call on Ghanaians to resist and condemn attempts by key elements of our society to malign institutions of integrity. The doors of the Commission remain open to all stakeholders who are keen to build credible, fair and transparent elections in Ghana”.
GNA
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