Voter roll: Our position on 'headstrong' Jean Mensa-led EC's 'evil agenda' unchanged – NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it has not backtracked on its position on the compilation of a new voter register by the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission.

According to the party, its participation in the just-ended pilot voter registration exercise, which appears to be fueling “this wrong and in some cases, mischievous impression”, was to monitor the process for purposes of their preparation towards a limited voter registration exercise, "a position we have canvassed publicly."

“Our observation of the EC’s so-called pilot registration process has revealed serious issues which reinforce our position that the new voter registration agenda of the Jean Mensah-led EC is needless, wasteful and can erode the democratic gains we have made since the inception of the fourth Republic if not stopped,” the NDC said in a statement signed by its National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi.

The statement stressed that the NDC is against the compilation of a new voters’ register and that position has not changed.

“We maintain that the existing voter register, which has successfully delivered five national elections with legitimate outcomes, is credible and fit for purpose,” it added.

The biggest opposition party further noted that the entrenched decision by the “intransigent and headstrong Jean Mensa-led EC to foist a new voter register on the country is not only unreasonable and financially imprudent but a ploy to rig the 2020 general election for President Akufo-Addo and the ruling New Patriotic Party, through voter suppression in NDC strongholds.”

The party alleged that the agenda of the Electoral commission to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters, has the tendency to jeopardise the peace and democracy of the country hence, they shall continue to employ every legitimate means to stop “this evil agenda, as we have already intimated publicly.”

The party said in the coming days, it will make public its comprehensive assessment of the Electoral Commission’s pilot registration exercise which according to them has turned out to be a “total fiasco.”