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General News of Tuesday, 29 November 2016

Source: The New Statesman

Over 98,000 special voters still on main register

Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah

Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, Director of Elections of the New Patriotic Party, has described as very worrying, the Electoral Commission’s handling of issues relating to the special voting in this year’s elections.

This follows a painstaking work carried out by the NPP that has revealed that as many as over 98,000 voters whose names are on the special voters’ list still have their names on the main register for the elections, sent to the various polling stations.

For instance, Juliet Domi, with ID number 1445501826, whose name is on the special voters list for Ayawaso Central in the Greater Accra Region, still has her name on the main register.

Others are Elvis Atsu Benson, with ID number 2648301121, voting at Kpando in the Volta Region; David Nyekoba, with ID number 5880000277, Sissila East in the Upper West Region; and Doris Nutakor, with ID number 5880012561, Awutu Senya East, Central Region.

The number of people on the special voters’ list whose names are still on the main register has the following regional breakdown: Ashanti Region, 15,111; Brong-Ahafo, 11,234; Central Region, 8,271; Eastern Region, 10,135; Greater Accra Region, 15,320; Northern Region, 11,996; Upper East Region, 6,652; Upper West Region, 2,322; Volta Region, 12,862; and Western Region, 4,313.

At least 13,000 new names were added to the special voters’ list after the period allowed by law to compile it had elapsed, pushing the figure to 127,277 voters, from the original 114,813 announced earlier by the EC. The new list includes 500 new police recruits who have just passed out, according to EC’s Amadu Sulley.

Special voters cannot have their names on the main register sent to the various polling stations for the main elections. Their names are put on the absentee list to ensure that a person who votes during the special voting does not resurface during to the main election to vote again. The NPP is, therefore, demanding immediate action from the EC to deal with the current anomaly.

“We are asking the EC to tell us how to stop these people from voting twice. Officials of the EC know the names of these over 98,000 people should not be on the main register sent to the polling stations, but they allowed that to happen. The EC must immediately come out and tell us the steps they are taking to rectify these serious anomalies and deal with them because it can compromise the integrity of the elections,” Mr Adjei-Mensah demanded yesterday when the Daily Statesman contacted him on the issue.