Northern Region NDC calls for extension of voter registration
The Northern Regional Executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to as a matter of urgency extend the limited voter registration exercise in affected areas in the Region to enable more qualified persons to register.
In a statement issued in Tamale on Monday signed by Mr Salisu BE-Awuribe, Regional Secretary, said the exercise had been hit with technology failure of the EC’s Technology Service Provider-STL, which was likely to deprive many people from registering before the deadline on September 25.
He said the EC had also failed to print the daily reports of registered voters to the political parties at the various centres and stressed the need for the EC to make available the daily reports for auditing.
“These records are needed for our daily auditing and cross referencing. This brings the operation of the EC into question and critical scrutiny despite their earlier promise to do so,” the statement said.
The statement also described as discriminatory, unfair, unjust and insensitive to young registrants for limiting the exercise to only the district offices of the EC.
The statement explained that some communities in the affected areas had to cross rivers for the exercise at long distances, which they could have done in their polling stations, and described the practice ‘as a lazy way of doing things’.
The statement said the period of the exercise had also coincided with the rainy season where some communities had been cut off and urged the Commission to have a second look and device means to cover the overseas areas.
The EC started limited registration exercise in areas that the government earmarked for the creation of new regions in the country.
The exercise, which started on Sunday, September 16, is expected to end on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.
In the Northern Region, the exercise affected 12 districts with 13 constituencies in two proposed Regions to be carved out of the Northern Region.
Source: GNA