NPP mad over EC panel’s U-turn

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has called for the examination of the exact recommendations made by the panel appointed by the Electoral Commission (EC) and chaired by a former Electoral Commissioner (EC), Justice Vincent Cyril Richard Arthur (V.C.R.A.) Crabbe to look at the Voters Register.

The NPP identified a divergence in the EC’s own position on how to clean the register for the 2016 elections, explaining that, to the EC, the current challenge procedures under CI 72, which provides the mechanism of Exhibition for cleaning flaws in the register are sufficient. The ‘Elephant’ Party said after last week’s protest in Kumasi, there have been attempts to dispute the recommendations of the EC’s own panel of experts on the cleaning of the register.

The NPP’s Director of Communications, Nana Akomea said, it has been variously expressed by spokespersons of the ruling government and lately by the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Reverend Professor Emmanuel Asante, who was also a member of the EC’s panel. The NPP said it was difficult to understand how Justice Crabbe’s Panel’s own recommendation can be interpreted as endorsing the EC’s Exhibition position, arguing that the exhibition process advocated by the EC is not viable.

On the sufficiency of the EC’s own Panel’s response and with references from their report, Nana Akomea said: “Judging by the sheer numbers, the EC’s proposition to display the register, with political parties, the Electoral Commission and the citizenry to identify and point out invalid names, is not a viable approach, particularly when the persons who identify these records are expected to expend their time, energy and resources not only to provide the evidence but also to testify before a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The system is not effective in achieving the set goals of eliminating invalid records from the register and must be reconsidered. It is said you cannot do the same thing and expect different results. “On their own recommendation for cleaning the register, the NPP said the Panel reported that doing nothing more usual than updating and waiting for the citizenry to pursue those who are illegally registered, will engender the most bloated register, by the mere fact that very few of the names are likely to be brought up.”

Nana Akomea also contended that: “Generally, it might be difficult to justify leaving more than half a million invalid records in the register that we seek to characterize as credible. The Electoral Commission could consider extending the exhibition exercise to have voters confirm their names on the list, an indication that they would want to maintain their voter status.”

The benefits, he said, would include signalling that the Electoral Commission is doing something about the known flaws in the register; and that would be the most cost-effective approach. “In the same way that a new registration would have required citizens to physically appear for registration, the cleaning would require that they appear to confirm. The major difference is they spend less time because no forms are filled. Rather than make others responsible for maintaining voters names on the list, the individuals should themselves do that,” he explained.

That approach, he went on, would avoid the issue of people looking for documents to support any claim to get a record removed. “So, in the clear words of the EC’S own Panel, the method of cleaning the register through the Exhibition process is simply not viable and not adequate.”

Summarizing the Panel’s report, the NPP said, “backed by the necessary legislation, all eligible citizens who wish to remain registered voters would have to report to their polling stations to be validated or verified by both facial image and biometric fingerprint, and that those who do not show up to have their voter status verified or validated, should not be maintained on the register in the same way that an eligible voter who does not show for registration will not have their names included onto the list of voters.”