2024 polls: Come up with ‘better solutions’ prior to elections – Amoako Baah urges EC

A Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Richard Baah Amoako, has asked the Electoral Commission (EC) to come up with better solutions going into the December polls.

He says the Commission’s modus of the re-exhibition is not the best since many of the people it is dealing with are not familiar with the internet.

Criticising the online modus of the re-exhibition, the founding member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) asked the Commission to come up with better solutions in its subsequent processes ahead of the elections.

Speaking on the BigIssue on TV3’s NewDay Tuesday, October 15, 2024, he said the EC should make consultations and take the concerns of the public in shaping up the electoral processes.

When asked what he expects of the EC before the elections, he said “I expect that we come up with better solutions. It’s not just the Electoral Commission alone who can do this. You can call for other support to help.”

He urged the EC to “put the information you have come up with into the public and see the responses. And then we suggest more things.”

Dr. Baah Amoako questioned why the EC “behaves as if you have no resources? That the one thing that comes to your head is what we should do.”

According to him, an election “is the anchor of democracy” adding that there is no point in denying people their right to vote in such times.

“If a person is disenfranchised, what’s the point? So you don’t do things like this. You take it very, very seriously and come up with better solutions than this,” he urged.

His comment is based on the re-exhibition exercise which is being done online, a module the political scientist says will not help a lot of people due to the level of illiteracy in the country.

The Electoral Commission (EC) will from today, October 15, conduct its online re-exhibition of the Provisional Voters Register (PVR) and will end on Saturday, October 19, 2024.

During the five-day re-exhibition period, voters can check their details via the short code *711*51# free of charge or visit the EC’s website: https://ec.gov.gh.

“Voters should click on the pop-up link at the bottom-right corner of the screen and enter the 10-digit Voter ID number to receive their voter registration details,” it said in a statement signed by its Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey.

At its special IPAC meeting held on October 1, 2024, the EC assured the public that the revised PVR would be re-exhibited online for registered voters to check their details and report any discrepancies to the Commission for correction.

It asked that any discrepancies identified must be reported to the district office of the Commission where they were registered voters for correction.

It said once the Re-Exhibition Exercise ends on Saturday, October 19, 2024, voters would still be able to check their details online but would not be able to request correction on their details.

“Political parties are required to use the template provided by the commission to submit any discrepancies identified during the re-exhibition period,” it said.

Source:onuaonline.com