Ghanaian election observers call for security at voter registration centers

The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) here Friday called on Ghana's security agencies to beef up security at voter registration centers.

CODEO, in its situation report signed by National Coordinator, Albert Arhin, said their surveillance revealed disturbing developments in the on-going limited voter registration exercise across the country.

The group said such disturbing developments and occurrences could mar the integrity of the registration exercise if the authorities failed to act swiftly.

It has therefore called on the security agencies to deal with those caught engaging in any violent act at the centers.

The statement said: "CODEO urges the security agencies to apply the law rigorously in dealing with anyone who engages in registration-related criminal offence."

The domestic election watchers said their observers also reported seeing unauthorized party supporters and members of the public loitering around registration centers with the sole purpose to serve as guarantors for registrants affiliated to their parties.

CODEO thus urged political parties, particularly the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to restrain their agents and activists from engaging in disruptive and violent acts at the registration centers.

They also joined widespread calls on the Electoral Commission (EC) to increase the supply of registration centers in densely populated areas of the country to give all eligible citizens the opportunity to register to vote in the 2016 polls.

There have been reports of violence from some regions (provinces) largely involving supporters of the NDC and NPP.

The EC commenced a limited registration exercise on April 28 to give opportunity to those who had turned 18 years and above and others who for some reasons could not register as voters in the last registration exercise in 2012 to do so.

The electoral body says it is expecting to register some 1.2 million people onto the electoral roll.

The exercise is scheduled to end on Sunday, May 8, 2016.

In another development, the country's Supreme Court has directed the EC to clean the voters register by deleting the names of persons who were registered unconstitutionally in 2012.

These include all persons who registered to partake in the 2012 elections with National Health Insurance (NHIS) cards and the deletion of the names of deceased persons and minors.

The Court, in a unanimous decision, however, gave the chance to those who will be disenfranchised due to the new directive to re-register. Endit