[ 2016-02-06 ]

EC cited for breaching C.I. 72
The Centre for African Democratic Affairs (CADA)
has said the Electoral Commission’s (EC) effort
to sanitise the voters register by deleting
multiple names from the Voters Register was
unlawful and illegal.

“Multiple registrations are an offense under
C.I.72 and people who engage in such a practice
must be prosecuted in the court of law.

“The EC may have all the necessary facts and
good intentions but it has no legal authority to
pronounce anyone guilty of an offence of multiple
registrations and consequently remove his or her
name from the voters register,” Mr Frank
Adarkwah-Yiadom, CADA Executive Director, stated
in a statement to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

The CADA statement noted that whether or not one
was guilty of such an offence should be determined
by the court of law in Ghana after a fair
hearing.

“It is based on the determination by the court
that the EC can delete names or otherwise.

“Failure to prosecute offenders amounts to
removal of the deterrent factor which will
discourage people who may harbour plans of
engaging in such practices in the future,” the
statement stated.

CADA therefore wishes to remind the EC that
election administration is a serious business
which has no place for arbitrariness no matter how
good the intentions may be.

“We urge the EC to play by the rules and
regulations governing the conduct of elections in
Ghana to serve as an example to other
stakeholders,” the statement stated.

According to CADA, one of the problems with the
existing Ghanaian voters’ register is the
multiple registrations.

The statement explained that the multiple
registrations occurred when one person has his or
her details (demographic and biometric) appearing
more than once in the voters register.

Reasons for multiple registrations could be
intentional or unintentional but whatever the case
may be, the fact is that multiple registration is
an electoral offence in Ghana.

In fact regulation 27 (b) and (s) of the Public
Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations,
2012, C.I.72, clearly state that any person who
registers as a voter more than once either at the
same registration centre or at different
registration centres commits an offence and is
liable on summary conviction to a fine not more
than five hundred penalty units or to a term of
imprisonment of not more than two years or to
both.

“CADA believes that the biometric technology
used to compile the existing register is able to
identify all multiple registrations through
matching of one’s biometric details with the
rest of the voters nationwide,” the statement
said.

Source - GNA

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