The Electoral Commission (EC) has denied claims by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmakers that it is seeking to compile new voters’ register.
Director of Electoral Services Department, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, said the body is not compiling a new register because the one that was put together for the 2020 polls is credible.
His comments come on the heels of assertions by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu, to the effect that the EC is creating a new voter roll for the 2024 general polls.
“Our understanding as we pick it up is that the EC is desperately planning to discard the 2020 voters register and replace it with a new voter register, which will cause taxpayers and the people of Ghana 80 million dollars thereabout,” Haruna Iddrisu told journalists in Parliament on Tuesday July 12.
But speaking in interview with TV3 on this matter, Dr Serebuor Quacoe said “we are not compiling a new voters’ register. The one we compiled in 2020 is a credible one, a very good register so we are not dispensing it. But you and I are aware that people have been saying that, why don’t you roll out continues registration so that when somebody turns 18, the person goes to our offices and register.
“That is exactly what we are doing. What we are seeking to do is that, we are coming out with a new Constitutional Instrument (CI) which we have had series of Inter-Party Advisory meetings (IPAC) meetings with the political parties.
“Obviously, the NDC has not been attending IPAC meetings of late, after 2020 they have not been attending but all the political parties have been attending and they can all attest to the fact that we have taken them through the new CI, we have discussed everything thoroughly.
“So, what we are saying is that, if people are going to register any day at our district offices, then they need some credible form of identification and it is possible that once it is going to be continues the political parties will not be there to be guaranteeing or objecting to.
“So why don’t we emphasize on the Ghana Card so that once you have your Ghana Card, we believe that you might have gone through the screening, so you come to our office with the Ghana and we will enroll you onto the register. We are talking of continues registration of people who have not registered, we are not using the data from the National Identification Authority (NIA).”
