The main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dragged the Electoral Commission (EC) to the Supreme Court over the controversial stance of the election regulator to thrash the current voters’ register for a curious new one despite massive opposition to the move.
A copy of the suit intercepted by Whatsup News shows the Attorney General (1st Defendant) and the EC (Second Defendant) as the main target of the NDC in the suit as it seeks a declaration that “…upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 45(a) of the 1992 Constitution, 2nd Defendant has the constitutional power to, and can, compile a register of voters only once, and thereafter revise it periodically, as may be determined by law.”
In the suit filed by vocal NDC lawyer, Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, the NDC also warns that the “… 2nd Defendant can only revise the existing register of voters and lacks the power to prepare a fresh register of voters, for the conduct of the December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.”
The EC had whipped up serious discontent when it tried to push through legislations that will require only holders of Ghanaian passports and the new National ID card to be eligible to register to vote in December.
The failed national ID card registration system has issued barely 8 million cards despite the fact that there are some 16 million registered voters in Ghana, many of who do not have the alternative documentation of a Ghanaian passport.
This means that the EC’s plan is likely to disenfranchise at least 5 million eligible voters who possess the current voters’ ID card.
It also wants “A declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution, specifically article 51 read conjointly with article 42 of the Constitution, the power of the 2nd Defendant [EC] to compile and review the voters’ register must be exercised subject to respect for and the protection of the right to vote.”
This suit has been long-overdue as the NDC has been intensely criticising the EC for allegedly using the guise of the new register to cook up a sinister agenda to rig the December general elections for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
The lawsuit is also bad news for the EC because the attempt to compile the new register had been delayed significantly by the outbreak of the Covid-19 coronavirus which forced the government to decree against public mass gathering.
The EC had earlier planned the process for the new register to start by April 18, 2020. After the ease in possible restrictions, the EC is likely to organise the registration process by June 2020.
However, this timeline is likely to be dashed by the NDC’s lawsuit as the EC totters dangerously towards causing chaos from ill-preparations for the elections.
The EC claims, the current register is compromised with the inclusion of foreign nationals on the roll, and that it would not organise an election with such a compromised register.
However, NDC, other opposition parties, several civil society groups and the general public have warned against the EC’s move as unnecessary, particularly because in the past one year the EC had used the same voters’ register to organise three major polls in the country.