Voter registration exercise: NDC wants online system scrapped

The opposition NDC wants the Electoral Commission (EC) to scrap its online voter registration platform and increase the number of offline registration kits instead.

This they say will ease the frustration prospective applicants have had to deal with in the ongoing limited registration exercise.

Chairman of the party Samuel Ofosu Ampofo observed that, due to the slow nature of the online voter registration, many applicants who traveled long distances to register have been compelled to return home after spending several hours in long winding queues.

He fears this development will disenfranchise many eligible voters ahead of the December 2019 District Assembly Elections and Referendum.

‘The frustrations and disappointments that prospective applicants have been subjected to, in an attempt to exercise an inalienable right is unimaginable. Many of the applicants have been forced to return home because the online voter registration is not working,” the Chairman said. 

He said had the concerns his party raised been taken seriously by the EC, the challenges the registration exercise has been plagued with would have been avoided, adding, “we hate to point it in this manner, but the NDC now stands vindicated.”

The EC commenced the registration exercise hoping to capture the names of prospective voters who have turned 18 or persons who never registered before.

It is part of the Commission’s preparations towards the conduct of the 2019 district level election of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives.

Mr. Ofosu Ampofo, who is in the Central region as part of his tour to monitor the registration exercise observed the frustrations applicants had to deal with but encouraged them to remain resolute and go through the process. 

Speaking to the media, the chairman of the NDC Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, said it will be prudent for the electoral commission to increase the number of offline registration kits to registration to capture more applicants as the exercise closes Sunday.  

The Chairman was accompanied by the National Deputy Women’s Organizer, Maame Efua Sekyi-Addo; Central Regional Chairman, EKT Addo; Regional Vice chairman, Aidoo Mensah and some constituency executives in the region.

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