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26.09.2012 General News

CI. 75 PASSED INTO LAW

By Ghanaian Chronicle
CI. 75 PASSED INTO LAW
26.09.2012 LISTEN

Ghana yesterday made a giant step in its electoral reforms when the new Public Elections Regulations, 2012 (C.I.75), received a Parliamentary approval to give legal effect to the biometric registration and verification of registered voters and  other matters connected to any public election process in the country.

This became necessary when the C.I.75, which was laid in the House on Tuesday, August 14, 2012, passed the twenty-one sitting days as required by law.

The approval comes rely 73 days to the country's Presidential and Parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in December 2012.

The new elections regulations, thus replaces the old Public Elections Regulations, 1996 (C.I.15), which has since 1996 been used for regulating any public elections in the country.

The introduction of the C.I. 75 was as a result of emerging challenges in the country's electoral system, some of which include; registration and voting by unqualified persons; multiple registration and attendant multiple voting.

However, one of the reforms introduced to address the above mentioned challenges was the introduction of the biometric registration system that came into force on Friday, March 23, 2012 through the passage of the Public Elections (Regulations of Voters) Regulations, 2012 (C.I.72).

With the Electoral Commission's (EC) intention to implement a biometric verification of registered voters during public elections to further strengthen existing electoral procedures, especially, with the introduction of the biometric registration system, there was the need for the EC to make new regulations; hence the introduction of C.I.75 to replace the old C.I.15.

Section 30 (1) of the C.I.75 requires that a Presiding Officer before delivering a ballot paper to a person to vote should establish by fingerprint or facial recognition that the person is the registered voter whose name and voter identification number and particulars appear in the register.

Section 30 (2) explicitly states, that voters shall go through a biometric verification process to cast their votes.

Additionally, Section 17 (2) of the C.I. 75 spells out the specific functions and duties of presiding and polling assistants either than that which was contained in the C.I.15.

With the said provision, the specific duties of presiding officers include; (a) setting up the polling station; (b)taking proper custody of ballot boxes, ballot papers, biometric verification equipment and other materials required and used for the poll; (c) filling the relevant forms relating to the conduct of the poll; (d) supervising the work of the polling assistants; (e) attending to voters without identity cards; (f) attending to proxy voters; (g) maintain order at the polling stations; (h) undertaking through counting of the votes; (i) announcing the results of the election at the polling stations; and (j) conveying ballot boxes and other election materials to the returning officer after the poll.

Unlike the above mentioned duties of presiding officers in the C.I. 75, Section 17 of the C.I.75 states; (a) 'The Commission shall appoint a presiding officer to preside at each polling station and number of polling assistants that it considers necessary to assist the presiding officer.

(b) A Polling Assistant may act as the presiding officer of a polling station during the absence or incapacity of the presiding officer.'

The duties of polling assistants are also spelt out in Section 17 (3) of C.I. 75 as follows: A polling assistant shall; (a) work under the supervision of the Presiding Officer in charge of the polling station; (b) act as the Presiding Officer of a polling station in the absence or incapacity of the presiding officer; and (c) perform any other functions assigned by the presiding officer.

While in the C.I. 15, the Electoral Commission was required to appoint presiding officers to preside at each polling station and a number of polling assistants necessary to assist the presiding officer, the new provision in the C.I. 75 (Section 17 (6) makes it obligatory for the EC to publish at the District Offices of the Commission the names of persons it proposes to appoint as presiding officers and polling assistants not later than ten days before an election and made available copies of the published names to political parties which requests for it.

Any registered political party or a registered voter in the constituency could object to the appointment of any of the officers within three days after the names of the proposed officials have been published except that no objection would be entertained by the EC if it is raised within seven days to any election.

Section 17(5) of C.I. 75 imposes a penalty on presiding officers who contravene the laws and regulations governing the conduct of elections and are liable to sanctions applicable to the electoral laws of Ghana.

A senior member of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, John Akologo Tia, who moved the motion, urged the House to fully adopt the committee's report since it had met all the requirements of the laws of the land.

The motion was seconded by the Chairman of the Subsidiary Legislation Committee, Kwame Osei-Prempeh. He lauded the C.I. 75, especially, the provision that spells out the specific functions and duties of presiding officers, polling assistants and agents arguing that 'it will help ease some of the problems that we get at the polling stations.'

He, therefore, commended the EC for doing a good work other than that of the C.I. 78 which was full of errors.

The MP for Kumawu, Yaw Baah, contributing to the motion was particularly grateful to the provision in the C.I. 75 that gives eligible voters and interested parties in the election process the right to challenge the status quo of the supposedly to be appointed presiding officers, polling station assistants and agents.

'The EC has a duty to make sure that people are replaced because of an element or suspicion of wearing a certain party colour. Once this is done, the fears of anyone would be allayed,' he noted.

He urged the EC not to be subjected to the direction of any individual but restrict itself to the power invested in it by country's constitution.

The MP for Aowin, Matthias Kwame Ntow also contributing to the motion expressed the fear that the provision in the C.I. 75 that calls for the publication of names of presiding officers, polling station assistants and agents at the district level would provoke various conflicts in the circumstances that the interested parties in the election process object at each given period the names of the officers published by EC.

He, therefore, pleaded with the EC and the Subsidiary Legislation Committee to a second look at the said provision in the C.I. 75.

However, his fears were allayed by the First Deputy Speaker, Edward Doe Adjaho, who presided over the affairs of the House.

According to him, should there be any objection, it was left for the EC to establish the authenticity of the objection raised, saying: 'if the objection raised is not valid, it will surely be thrown out.'

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