CODEO To Observe 2014 Limited Voter Registration Exercise

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) will deploy 350 of its field volunteers to observe the limited voter registration exercise to begin from Friday July 25 to Sunday August 3, 2014, a date announced by the Electoral Commission.

According to a press release issued in Accra and signed by Dr. Franklin Oduro, the Acting CODEO Coordinator, CODEO observers will be deployed in all the 216 districts in Ghana and will conduct roaming observation at the designated registration centers. CODEO will as well observe the entire phases of the limited voter registration exercise, including the work of District Registration Review Committees (DRRC) and the exhibition of the provisional voters register.

The Coalition's observation of the limited voter registration heralds its comprehensive project to observe the 2014 Local Government Elections. CODEO will observe all activities in the three phases of the electoral process - periods before the elections, the Election Day and the immediate post election environment, the press statement added.

The release continued that for the 2014 Local Government Elections, CODEO seeks to mobilize citizens to show interest in the elections and also to increase their participation on local government issues. Under the theme 'Enhancing Citizens' Participation in the 2014 Local Government Elections: Deepening Ghana's Decentralization Process',

CODEO, the release said would work with other partners to mobilize and support marginalized groups, such as women, youth and Persons With Disability (PWD) to actively participate in the upcoming local government elections and as well facilitate their participation in local governance.

CODEO urged and encouraged citizens who are eligible to vote in the elections to peacefully go out and register. CODEO further reminds political parties that local government elections remain non-partisan and therefore requests of them not to engage in any practices that will undermine the credibility of the registration exercise. CODEO has therefore called on the political parties and all other stakeholders to lend support to the Electoral Commission and to contribute to making the 2014 local level elections a success.

The statement concluded that CODEO's comprehensive observation of the 2014 Local Government Elections has been made possible with the generous support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).