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10.08.2019 General News

Sanction offenders to end multiple registrations – CODEO’s Nat’l coordinator

By CitiNewsRoom
Sanction offenders to end multiple registrations – CODEOs Natl coordinator
10.08.2019 LISTEN

The National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Albert Arhin, wants individuals who engage in multiple election registration severely punished to deter others from doing same.

He believes this, coupled with public sensitization by the relevant electoral stakeholders will end practice.

Albert Arhin's comments come on the back of the recent discovery by the Electoral Commission that some 24,000 people registered more than once in the recently held limited voters' registration.

“The thing is, we need to punish people for some of these wrong doing. Because what we discovered was that, people were not of age but they were pushed into doing these things. So maybe to forestall some of these things, there should be massive public education by the EC, NCCE and the political parties themselves”, he said on Eyewitness News.

The 24,000 persons will be facing fines or jail time or both for the alleged offense after they are arraigned.

The Director of Electoral Services at the Commission, Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe told  Citi News that the cases were discovered in the ongoing audit of the limited voter registration exercise which ended last month.

The details of the cited persons will be dispatched to the various centers across the country.

“When you appear, you will tell your story. If the magistrate is convinced that it was just a mistake, one of the names will be deleted and you will have your name restored. If he is not convinced, we will remove your name and the magistrate will also give you a sentence.”

Dr. Serebuor Quaicoe noted that some persons could be pardoned if the multiple registrations occurred at the same centre, as a result, of genuine mistakes.

About  1.2 million new voters   were registered under the limited voter registration exercise.

Out of that number, the registration of 8,500 new voters was challenged by observers.

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