The Electoral Commission (EC) is facing massive backlash from some political parties for failing to provide certified copies of the provisional electoral register, which it intends to use for the 2024 general elections.
Although the Commission plans to start a voter exhibition exercise on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, some political parties claim they have not yet received the necessary documents.
With less than 24 hours until the exercise begins, representatives from at least three political parties have stormed the EC’s office to demand their copies of the electoral rolls.
However, speaking to JoyNews, National Youth Organizer of the PNC, Mark Awudu said political parties that demanded the document were reportedly told the EC is yet to finalize the provisional register.
“On the 8th of this month, they wrote to us that we should come on the 14th. On Friday, they asked us to come on Sunday and today is Monday. So we are here to demand for it. This is not a protest so the police needs no notification from us.
“No political party is asleep as far as I am concerned because if you are a serious political party and you are really interested in contesting the 2024 elections, you shouldn’t be sleeping. You should be here. You will be surprised that Akua Donkor is inside there. She is here to demand for the voter register, so can you say she is sleeping?”
Mr. Awudu also expressed disappointment in the EC following numerous assurances given by the Commission.
“Maybe the NDC and the NPP do not need it but we need it and that is why we are here. They have not informed us of any meeting but the information we have gathered is that they intend to organise a press conference to tell us the issues. But what are the issues when you have already indicated that you were going to give us the provisional voter register and in one of our IPAC meetings we questioned them if they could deliver on time and they said yes.”
Earlier, the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s Director of Elections, Dr Omane Boamah, also called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to release the provisional voter register for the upcoming December 7 general elections to all political parties before the exhibition exercise begins.
Dr Boamah expressed concerns about the EC’s handling of the process, accusing the Commission of delaying the register’s release.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, August 14, Dr Boamah criticized the EC for what he described as incompetence, alleging that the delay was a deliberate attempt to provide political parties with a substandard register.
During the final day of his campaign tour of the Volta Region, the party’s flagbearer, John Dramani Mahama also emphasised that as of the evening of August 16, 2024, political parties were still waiting for the register.
“The exhibition of the register starts in four days. We should have received those provisional registers by now so that we can help our members check if their names are there. They have asked us to come today for the hard drives with the provisional register. I am calling on the Electoral Commission to make sure that we get the hard drives with the provisional register today so that we can send them to the constituencies and let our executives start helping our people to check and make sure their names are there.”