Electoral Commission Holds The Key To Free, Fair Elections

On Thursday, June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court finally laid to rest, qualms over its earlier order to the Electoral Commission (EC) to clean the biometric voters' register, to ensure that the outcome of the results becomes acceptable to all.

The highest court of the land, on Thursday, May 5, 2016, described Ghana's voters' register as 'reasonably inaccurate', and, therefore, ordered the EC to remove the names of dead persons, minors, and those who used the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card as proof of citizenship in the 2012 registration exercise when the first biometric register was compiled.

This followed a suit filed by Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako at the Supreme Court, asking it to declare the voters' register as inappropriate for the November 2016 general elections.

But, the EC, after studying the ruling, said its understanding did not suggest the use of any new process to delete the names of those who registered with the NHIS cards, since there are already laid down procedures for expunging ineligible names. This generated heated arguments among the political parties, political analysts, law-makers, lawyers, and civil society organisations in the country.

While many opposition parties, led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP), were calling on the EC to implement the Supreme Court's order without delay, since the elections are barely six months away, the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), which, in recent times, has arrogated unto itself the position of unofficial spokesperson for the commission, felt the EC should be allowed to do its work without interference.

At one point, the EC claimed it was already in the process of implementing the Supreme Court's decision long before the order was issued, yet, at another, it said it was studying the ruling and would come out with the appropriate response. When the Supreme Court sat on the issue on Thursday, it issued a stern warning to the Electoral Commission, stating that it will not sit down unconcerned to allow the elections body to plunge the country into chaos.

The five member panel, presided over by the Chief Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, also gave the EC six days to furnish it with the list of names of all those who registered with the NHIS cards, since it (the EC) has it in its custody.

The story, which was published in the Friday June 24 edition of The Chronicle, had it that the Supreme Court expressed displeasure over the delay on the part of the EC to comply with the orders it gave on May 5, 2016, during its ruling.

According to the story, the Chief Justice stated that time was fast running out, and since the number of people the order was likely to affect is huge, the Supreme Court wanted to ensure that the EC complies with the order, especially, given the fact that it (EC) had already “indicated that it has what it takes to identify people who registered with the NHIS cards.”

She said: “We should have the interest of the country at heart. Let's be serious for once.”

The story continued: “The Law Lords became visibly unhappy when the lawyer for the EC, Thaddeus Sory, failed to indicate specific measures they were putting in place to comply with the orders the SC gave in its earlier ruling to delete names of voters who registered with the NHIS cards.

“Although the EC indicated that they can carry out the order during the exhibition and challenging mechanism, the five-member panel was still not satisfied, saying sitting back without making sure that the order is carried out can bring disorder in the country.”

The Electoral Commission is on record to have stated that it already has the list of all those who used the NHIS cards as proof of citizenship to register in the last general elections.

To this end, The Chronicle calls on the Electoral Commission to get down to work, and ensure that it submits the NHIS cards-registered voters list to the Supreme Court in the stipulated six days' time.

It is very clear now that everybody is waiting to see the outcome of the six-day ultimatum given by the Supreme Court to the Electoral Commission to submit the list.

It is the wish and desire of every Ghanaian to see and witness free, fair and transparent elections come November, 2016, and the only way to achieve this is for us, as a nation, to have a credible voters' register.

The onus, therefore, lies with the Electoral Commission to ensure that the wishes of the people of this country are realised through the provision of a free, fair and transparent election.