John Dumelo urges EC to extend duration for the limited voters registration exercise on university campuses

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency, John Setor Dumelo, has petitioned the Electoral Commission (EC) to prolong the time for university campuses to register voters.

Noting that just approximately 300 out of over 7,000 first-time voters have successfully registered at the Legon campus, he stated that this would enable a great number of first-time voters to register and prevent being disenfranchised in the December polls.

The nationwide registration process has been plagued by technical difficulties for the past three days, prompting Mr. Dumelo’s plea.

In an attempt to expedite the registration process, the Commission instructed all of its District Officers to move to offline mode on May 9 in a statement released on Wednesday.

Moreover, the Commission assured stakeholders that “should there be a backlog of voters at the end of the twenty-one (21) day process, the registration exercise will be extended beyond the 27th of May, 2024 deadline.”

“My main concern is the university campuses, especially Legon campus. You have thousands of students who are eligible voters, you have thousands of students who are first-time voters. As we speak, only about 300 out of maybe over 7,000 have been registered, and today is the last day for the campuses.

“I think that it is something which is of great concern to us that they should be able to extend, especially the Legon campus so that most of the students would be able to register; if not, they would be disenfranchised,” he told TV3’s George Kwanin.

EC targets over 620k first-time voters
Ahead of the national elections on December 7, the Commission started a limited voter registration exercise across the nation with the goal of adding roughly 623,000 new voters to the electoral record.

Tuesday, May 7, marked the start of the 21-day exercise throughout all 258 Commission district offices. On Monday, May 27, 2024, the exercise is scheduled to conclude.

To accommodate people who might find it difficult to visit the EC’s district offices, the Commission has also established an extra 785 centers.

Twenty-five public universities have also been added as registration centers.

“Permanent centres will be set up at the District offices while mobile teams would be used to register eligible applicants in the difficult-to-access Electoral Areas. The list of registration centres will be provided to the Political Parties no later than twenty-one (21) days to the Registration exercise,” the EC noted.

As the 2024 general election approaches, Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), has emphasized the significance of assembling a reliable voter registry.

Elections cannot be transparent, she claimed, if there is no reliable voter registration.

Ahead of the 2024 limited voter registration exercise, Jean Mensah stated at a news conference in Accra on Monday, May 6, that the EC is prepared to conduct a transparent and credible election.

“As a commission, we remain poised and ready to deliver credible, transparent and peaceful elections and electoral processes starting with the 2024 registration exercise.

“It is well known that the voters register is a bedrock of an election. Without a credible and accurate voter register, there can be no transparent and acceptable elections,” she stated.