NPP Cries Foul Over Exhibition, Re-Registration Exercises … Calls For Extension Of Deadline

From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has formally registered its displeasure at what it says are several administrative anomalies on the part of the Electoral Commission (EC) in the on-going Voters’ Exhibition and Re-registration exercise.

The party says it is deeply worried at the failure on the part of the electoral body to put in place certain measures, aimed at ensuring that every potential voter whose name was deleted is offered the opportunity to have his or her name enlisted, in order to participate in the process.

According to the opposition party, it has uncovered several discrepancies and anomalies in the on-going exercise, which, it noted, could prevent thousands of voters from participating in the December 7 polls.

The opposition party listed, amongst other things, the deletion of names of people who never used the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card in registering, deletion of people who are alive but marked dead, the frustrations people are going through in trying to replace their lost cards, the slow pace of the re-registration of disqualified NHIS card holders, and the abnormal incidents of multiple registration.

The party further contends what it labelled as a novelty in the on-going registration and exhibition, whereby names of registrants are being deleted for allegedly engaging in multiple registration through no fault of theirs.

At a press conference held at the Asokwa Constituency to register its displeasure at the EC, the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the party, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, aka Chairman Wontumi, warned that the action of the EC was a recipe for chaos and disaffection.

It said, with only two days left for people whose names were deleted to re-register, it is likely lots of innocent voters would be denied the chance to exercise their franchise if nothing is done to address the nagging issues.

The opposition party is, therefore, calling on the EC to extend the deadline for the re-registration of deleted names, as well as rectify the abnormal situation of registrants whose names are being taken out of the list for alleged multiple registration.

Exclusion, double/multiple registration
According to the Ashanti Regional NPP, it has received several reports that names of some potential registrants in its strongholds are being deleted from the list for allegedly dabbling in multiple registration.

The party pointed out that the anomaly, which has arisen as a result of the manual setting of the Biometric Device at a rather odd time, has resulted in the automatic deletion of certain names.

The NPP executives explained the EC has introduced an additional list which has been labelled ‘Exclusion and Double/Multiple Registration’, where people who were captured by the machine, as having registered outside the stipulated time, are taken out of the list.

These lists, according to them, came about, because some officials of the EC deliberately set the time on the machine at ‘PM’, when it is supposed to be set at ‘AM’ and vice versa.

According to the opposition party, since the machine has been programmed to delete names of people who did not register within the stipulated time, the situation had resulted in several of its members being disenfranchised.

“We have witnessed situations where people’s names are being deleted, because the machine says they registered as early as 5a.m. and late as 6p.m.; we are wondering why someone will deliberately set the machine to purposely get names deleted,” Chairman Wontumi alleged.

Aside this, the opposition party also stated that the ongoing exercise has witnessed an outrageous situation, whereby 38 persons are recorded as having engaged in multiple registration across polling centres in the region.

It cited, for instance, that in the Atwima Mponua constituency, about 1,700 names had so far been deleted as having engaged in multiple registrations, and this figure, according to the party, is not only alarming, but also suspicious.

Labelling of the living as dead
The NPP is also not happy about the unfortunate incidents of people being labelled as having died though they are alive. According to the party, the unfortunate victims of this anomaly have had their names expunged from the register without being offered enough opportunity to re-register.

“The NPP is very appalled by this incident; we believe the EC is not being fair to innocent persons who are being denied the chance to exercise their franchise, simply because the Commission is not doing its job properly,” the opposition party lamented.

The Ashanti Regional party further observed that the electoral body is also putting lots of frustrations in the way of potential registrants who have made several efforts to get their names re-registered.

“Go to the regional EC office and see the kind of frustrations people are going through in trying to get their names back onto the register; the EC officials give flimsy excuses such as power cuts to deny people from registering,” the party lamented.