EC uncovers plot to register minors

The Electoral Commission (EC) on Wednesday disclosed that it has uncovered an electoral plot by a political party to register masses of minors during the limited voter registration exercises.
The plot involves moving the organized minors (under 18 years) to some registration locations in constituencies the party considers strategic and ensure their registration, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan EC Chairman stated at the Greater Accra regional Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting.

Dr. Afari-Gyan warned the minors and the political party of the consequence of committing an electoral offence - impersonation; "We are collaborating with the Police Administration to ensure that anybody who attempts to impersonate or commit any electoral offence at any stage of the process faces the law."

He explained that the limited registration exercises is an opportunity for people who are 18 and 19 years to register, those beyond the 19 years would have to convince the registration officials reason why he or she failed to register either in 2004 or 2006.
The regional IPAC meeting is on the theme; "Building Confidence in the Outcome of the 2008 Elections," aimed at offering a platform for the political parties, media and democratic stakeholders to have insight into the work of the EC and for explanations on any issues of concern. The meeting was organized by the EC in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and KAB Governance Consult discussed: Inbuilt Integrity of Ghana's Electoral Process; Results and Challenges of the Replacement of Lost Voter ID Cards; Revision of the voters' Register - Challenges and Expectations; Expectations of the Commission from Political Parties towards Credible Elections in December 2008.

The EC Chairman also educated the participants on the electoral process which involved the demarcation of a constituency, registration, nomination of candidate, conduct of elections, collation of results and declaration of the results.
Dr. Afari-Gyan explained that until the filing of nomination forms with the EC in September, no one qualified to be classified as Presidential candidate, at best all the flagbearers are prospective Presidential candidates.

Responding to questions from the participants, Mr Hubert Akumiah, EC Director of Information Technology and Data Processing said the Commission would adopt biometric system of capturing electoral information of voters during the next general voter's registration.
He explained that the biometric system is an effective means of automatically deleting double names from the voter's register, "but that notwithstanding the current system have inbuilt structures to detect and remove double names."
Mr. Akumiah also explained that due to logistical difficulties, the Commission would use only 2,500 cameras (one camera to two electoral areas) for the limited registration exercises across the nation.

Mr. Mohammed Adoquaye, EC Greater Accra Regional Director who gave statistics on the recent replacement of lost Voter Identification Cards said the region replaced 59,410 cards.
Tema recorded the highest number of 12,962 whilst Dangbe East recorded the least 1,148. The gender statistics indicates that 35,240 male replaced their cards whilst 24,170 female did same.

About 4,106 applications were rejected. Representatives of the ruling New Patriotic Party, National Democratic Congress, Convention People's Party, Ghana National Party, People's National Convention, EGLE Party, Great Consolidated Popular Party, and the Democratic Freedom Party attended the meeting.