Limited voter registration: Rethink your strategy by opening more centres for easy access — Stranek Africa to EC

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has been urged to adopt an "expansionist approach" and open more registration centres for the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.

Pro-democracy group Stranek Africa says the current arrangement by the EC to use only 268 district offices is inadequate and an "affront to guarantee rights of every Ghanaian citizen."

In a press release on Wednesday, the civil society organisation said "the entire limited voter registration is fraught with challenges" partly due to the limited number of registration centres."

"It is obvious the Electoral Commission's current arrangement on the registration exercise is utterly unsignifying and an affront on guaranteed rights of every Ghanaian citizen above 18 years old and of sound mind," the statement said.

Stranek Africa further accused the EC of violating Constitutional Instrument (CI) 91 as amended by CI 126 by using fewer registration centres.

"STRANEK AFRICA believes the Electoral Commission must rethink its strategies by testing the efficacy of its equipment and network connectivity. Also, more centres must be opened to encourage all qualified persons to register and participate in the election of our political leaders, be it at the local, constituency, or national level," the group said.

Stranek Africa urged the election management body to be "receptive towards stakeholders' engagement to fill the gaps and eliminate any bottlenecks."

The group said opening more centres will reduce the long queues, high cost of travel to registration centres and the frustration among registrants.

Meanwhile, the EC aims to register about 1.35 million new voters in the limited registration exercise which ends on October 3.