Political parties to discuss Voters’ Register at IPAC


The Electoral Commission (EC) will Tuesday, October 1, 2024, convene an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to discuss pressing issues with the Voters’ Register for the 2024 General Election.

The meeting, expected to be held in Accra on Tuesday morning, would be attended by the various political parties and facilitated by the Commission.

The Ghana News Agency has gathered that the Commission would use the platform to explain measures it was implementing to clean some identifiable errors in the register and build consensus towards ensuring robust register ahead of the December 7 polls.

The meeting would also take concerns and suggestions from the political parties on the Voters’ Register and other issues relating to the electoral processes.

There has been persistent pressure on the EC to conduct a forensic audit of the Voters’ Register, following concerns raised by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) about the integrity of the register, after some voters were transferred without their consent
.

Meanwhile, the EC has maintained that calls for forensic audit of the Provisional Voters’ Register were premature as it had not exhausted established processes to clean the register.

In response to a petition by the NDC, the Commission said it had largely resolved identified discrepancies in the Register, adding that it would undertake an online exhibition of the register before its finalisation.

In a letter to the NDC signed by Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson, EC, the Commission said the exhibition of Provisional Voters’ Register allowed for inspection and correction of discrepancies.

It said the Commission’s District Officers were implementing the decisions and recommendations of the District Registration Review Officers.

‘From the above, you (NDC) will attest to the fact that the production of a Final Voters Register is a process, not an event. It does not happen overnight. It requires painstaking effort and processes to arrive at a Final Register.

‘The above processes are ongoing and have not been exh
austed. It is therefore our position that the call for a forensic audit is premature,’ the EC said.

Source: Ghana News Agency