'Withdraw such an ill-conceived request to police' - Dafeamekpor chides EC over request for special voting list

The Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has called out the Electoral Commission of Ghana for requesting from the Ghana Police Service a list of officers who will participate in the Special Voting exercise that will happen later in the year.

According to a statement by the National Democratic Congress MP, this is a premature request and exercise by the EC, intended to disenfranchise some of the eligible police officials before the 2024 general elections.

In the statement, Dafeamekpor questioned why the EC would be making such a request of the Ghana Police Service several months ahead of the decision by the service on who will be included in the special voting exercise.

“According to this communication within the ranks of the Ghana Police Service, this action is pursuant to a request from the Electoral Commission of Ghana to the Police Service to furnish the Commission with the list of officers of the Service who would be granted the opportunity to participate in the special voting exercise slated for 2/12/2024 as a result of their engagement in activities during the Election Day which may not allow them to vote on the said date (7th December, 2024).

“A careful examination of the Electoral Commission’s programmed activities on its elections calendar released this year after series of demands from the public under the heading PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, indicates that between 7th May and 27th May, the Commission will undertake a limited registration of voters,” he wrote.

Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor added that it is conflicting and untenable for the EC to be making such a request when its own calendar for the election year would require a moment when it will take in new names onto the voter register.

He, therefore, described this as an ‘indecent haste’ by the election body, calling on it to immediately shelve this ‘ill-conceived’ move as it is aimed at undermining the voting rights of some of the officers who will be on duty on Election Day.

“From the Commission’s programme outline, between 17th June to 1st July 2024, the Commission will receive application for special voters and complete the process of compilation of the special voters’ list. From any reasonable appreciation of the outline, it would stand to reason that this was to enable all those who are yet to enter the voters roll, to do so before one could apply for special voting. This does not exclude our Service men and women.

“On consistent basis, the police service continue to recruit and train Officers to carry out their police duties. It is therefore absolutely possible, that some of these officers are yet to register and have their names recorded on the voters’ roll. So, for the EC to demand from the Ghana Police Service to submit names of officers to be deployed on election D-Day, for purposes of compilation of the Special Voters List, long before some get the opportunity to actually register as voters does not only amount to an indecent haste but an unconstitutional administrative directive to deprive them of exercising their constitutional right of universal adult suffrage,” he added.

Read his full 11-pointer statement below:

Press release
04/04/2024

WITHDRAW REQUEST TO GHANA POLICE SERVICE TO PROVIDE LIST OF SPECIAL VOTERS AHEAD OF LIMITED VOTER REGISTRATION EXERCISE
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1. I have chanced on a Police Wireless Message with reference number ORINO: CD. 136/186/08/27 under the heading RE - COMPILATION OF SPECIAL VOTERS-LIST FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS.

2. Contained in the Message is “FOLLOWING THE REQUEST MADE BY THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION OF GHANA TO SUBMIT LIST OF PERSONNEL WHO WILL TAKE PART IN THE SPECIAL VOTING SCHEDULED TO TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY 02/12/2024”.

3. According to this communication within the ranks of the Ghana Police Service, this action is pursuant to a request from the Electoral Commission of Ghana to the Police Service to furnish the Commission with the list of officers of the Service who would be granted the opportunity to participate in the special voting exercise slated for 2/12/2024 as a result of their engagement in activities during the Election Day which may not allow them to vote on the said date (7th December, 2024).

4. A careful examination of the Electoral Commission’s programmed activities on its elections calendar released this year after series of demands from the public under the heading PROGRAMME OF ACTIVITIES FOR 2024 PRESIDENTIAL AND PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, indicates that between 7th May and 27th May, the Commission will undertake a limited registration of voters.

5. That will be followed by Vote Transfer, Exhibitions of the Register as well as compilation of the Final Voters Register.

6. From the Commission’s programme outline, between 17th June to 1st July 2024, the Commission will receive application for special voters and complete the process of compilation of the special voters’ list.

7. From any reasonable appreciation of the outline, it would stand to reason that this was to enable all those who are yet to enter the voters roll, to do so before one could apply for special voting. This does not exclude our Service men and women.

8. On consistent basis, the police service continue to recruit and train Officers to carry out their police duties. It is therefore absolutely possible, that some of these officers are yet to register and have their names recorded on the voters’ roll.

9. So for the EC to demand from the Ghana Police Service to submit names of officers to be deployed on election D-Day, for purposes of compilation of the Special Voters List, long before some get the opportunity to actually register as voters does not only amount to an indecent haste but an unconstitutional administrative directive to deprive them of exercising their constitutional right of universal adult suffrage.

10. This hasty directive appears to be a calculated act by the Commission to deny Officers the opportunity to vote on 2nd December 2024 in order to be ready for deployment on Election Day to provide adequate security to safeguard the integrity of the election process and the eventual outcome.

11. The Commission is, by this release, required to withdraw such an ill-conceived request to the Ghana Police Service as not only does it undermine the ability of police to deploy personnel to man polling and election centres on Election Day but it’s also done hastily.

Signed:

Rockson-Nelson E.K. Dafeamekpor, Esq.
MP, South Dayi
Member, Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee
Parliament of Ghana

AE/ADG