EC defends IPAC meeting on new voters' register compilation

Director of Electoral Services of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Serebour Quaicoe has defended the commission’s plan to procure equipment to compile a new voters’ register as a ‘done deal’.

Dr Quaicoe speaking on JoyFM’s News File segment on January 18 described the meeting by the Eminent Advisory Committee (EAC) of the Electoral Commission with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) on Thursday, January 16 as one that “was meant to engage them to make our [EAC] points clear.”

Adding that, the decision to compile a new voter register was the commission’s “stance for now and that they [EAC] were only seeking to inform the panel that it is a done deal”

Earlier, the Eminent Advisory Committee (EAC) of the Electoral Commission called on the EC to meet with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to deliberate on issues regarding the compilation of a new voters register.

The Committee made the call after it held a meeting with the EC to outline the justification for the procurement of a new Biometric Voter Management System and the compilation of a new voter register for the 2020 general elections.

Chairperson of the EC Jean Mensa’s decision to compile a new voters register for the 2020 election has altered a national conversation with many questioning the move, especially in an election year.

Some 18 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have waded into the matter, saying that if there is need for the collection of fresh data on citizens, the more appropriate, most lawful and financially responsible and justified approach will be to let the National Identification Authority (NIA) collect and process the information.