EC Sued Over Mobile Registration Centres for “Akufo Addo Graduates”

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has sued the Electoral Commission (EC) for attempting to deploy “mobile” registration centres to secondary schools to register what has popularly been termed “Akufo Addo Graduates”.

The suit was filed today at an Accra High Court saying the plan was completely illegal and an attempt to manipulate the voters’ register.

The main opposition party argues in their suit that any registration centre not contained in a Gazette and notification in accordance with C.I 91 was illegal and wrongful.

According to the NDC, the EC is required to publish any new registration centre not less than 21 days before that centre is activated.

This allows for verification so that the election regulatory body does not attempt to manipulate voter registration data.

The NDC, therefore, wants the court to declare the attempt of the EC null and void and of no legal effect.

The EC has announced moves to take registration to secondary schools to capture students who may have clocked 18 years. These students are popularly called Akufo Addo Graduates because they are the first batch of beneficiaries of the government free Senior High School policy.

The EC in an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) this mid-week announced “out of the blues” that it intends to roll out mobile registration centres in these schools.

The commission further indicated that students who participate in the exercise will be allowed to move their votes to their preferred location later in the year if they happen to reside in areas far away from the schools where registration is to take place.

The NDC suit consequently wants the court to rule that names of persons who will be registered at “those illegal centres” from the electoral roll come December 2020.

The suit also wants the EC restrained from carrying out such registration.