EC briefs media, stakeholders on modalities for registration exercise

The Electoral Commission (EC) has solicited the support of the media to enhance the success of the upcoming voters’ registration exercise.

“We are counting on the media to give as much publicity as possible to this important exercise to whip up patronage from the citizenry,” Mr Benjamin Bano-Bio, Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, pleaded.

The programme, commencing on Tuesday, June 30, this year, is designed to compile a new voters’ register for the December General Election and is expected to capture the biometric data of the Ghanaian voter.

Mr Bano-Bio, speaking at the ‘Media Convention 2020’ in Kumasi, outlined modalities for the registration, noting that the Region would be zoned into clusters to facilitate the EC’s work.

For this purposes, the 5, 890 polling stations have been merged and divided into 1,196 clusters with 800 recruited EC officials expected to be on duty till registration ends in August.

The EC Director said the exercise would be conducted in five phases, followed by a six-day mopping up to capture those not registered within the stipulated period.

Additionally, special centres would be set up for qualified persons with disability to register, with plans also in place by the EC to constitute mobile teams to attend to emergency situations.

Mr Bano-Bio said they would mount an exhibition exercise for verification of data by voters, and that this formed the processes towards the compilation of a credible voters’ register.

The exercise, he said, would be conducted with strict adherence to the COVID-19 safety protocols.

Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei, Vice-President of the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA), which organized the ‘Media Convention 2020’ and sponsored by the US Embassy, asked journalists to demonstrate professional ethics in their work.

They have a duty, she said, to protect the nation’s democracy and political stability by reporting only the truth, and avoiding acts likely to stoke tension and acrimony within the Ghanaian society.

The programme brought on board officials of the National Media Commission (NMC), security agencies and traditional authorities, as well as the media, political representatives and EC to discuss issues relating to the General Election.

It was held under the theme: “The 2020 Election: Role of the Media in Promoting Civility and Discernment”.