Ghanaians attaining 18 years urged to register to vote

The African Elections Project (AEP) has called on non-registered Ghanaian electorates who have attained the age of 18 years and above to register during the ongoing voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC).

“Ghanaians, who have attained the age of 18 years since the last limited registration exercise in August 2014 as well as eligible Ghanaians who were above 18 years during the main registration but could not register should participate in this exercise”, a statement signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra, by Mr Jerry Sam, Project Director of AEP, said.

The International Institute of ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) established the AEP as a flagship project in 2008, with the vision of enhancing the ability of journalists, citizen journalists and the news media to provide more timely and relevant electoral information and knowledge while undertaking the monitoring of specific and important aspects of governance.

The Electoral Commission (EC) on Friday announced the registration exercise for eligible voters as part of preparations towards the 2016 general elections.

The statement said the registration exercise was in accordance with Regulation 9 (1) of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2012, (C.I 72) and would take place in 6,000 centres across the country.

It urged all prospective applicants to register at the various EC district offices.

“This call is made with the notion that if democracy is government by the people, then it is every citizen’s responsibility to elect their representatives and ensure the legitimacy of elected officials and government, which can only be achieved by having all eligible voters registered on the EC’s roll,” the statement said.

It said all prospective applicants will be required to show identification documents as proof of eligibility such as a passport, National Identification Card, driver’s license or an old voter ID Card.

The statement said due to a Supreme Court’s decision, eligible applicants should note that the National Health Insurance Card will not be accepted as an identification document.

It said eligible applicants who do not have any of the identification documents mentioned may find two Ghanaians who are already registered voters to guarantee their registration by completing a voter registration identification guarantee form.

Source: GNA