Don’t wait till Last Minute to Get Registered-EC urges Ghanaians

The Municipal Electoral Officer for Akuapem North Municipal Assembly ,Mr Solomon Angaaga has urged the electorate to desist from the habit of waiting till the eleventh hour to act on decisions to vote or register in any electoral process.

He said such an attitude was not helpful as it creates a lot of inconvenience for the electorate themselves since a lot of people with the same mentality end up massing up few days to the stipulated deadline.
Mr.Angaaga observed that, most often, at the beginning of a particular electoral activity, not many people would be seen in the queue, adding however that the numbers begin to swell up massively approaching the end of the exercise.
He said this phenomenon is pervasive in most electoral exercises and those who deliberately delay their action would not do the process or themselves any good.
According to him, with this background people who are not able to register or vote in the electoral process for any cogent reason might call for extension of the stipulated days which might not augur well for the electoral calendar.
In an interview with the media, he prevailed on Ghanaians to prioritize electoral matters since this year was an election year which calls for all stakeholders to play their part effectively to help achieve the desired outcome.
Mr.Angaaga said any further extension of this year’s limited voter registration exercise apart from the two days would have eaten into the outlined scheduled electoral activities.

He said following the limited voter registration exercise, other activities lined up included replacement, transfers, proxy voting, special voting and exhibition.
The Electoral Commission (EC) he said, was committed to ensuring a fair, credible and transparent process through robust mechanisms to ensure that the integrity of the process was not compromised.
He described this year’s limited voter registration exercise in the municipality as one of the most peaceful and successful as it was able to achieve its set target.
He commended inhabitants in the district who played their civic roles effectively by exposing all acts of electoral malpractice during the recent limited voter registration process.
All citizens, he said, have a part to play which must be played effectively to ensure a resounding electoral success for which we would all be proud of as a nation.
Responding to the question of how to prevent infiltration of minors and foreigners in the electoral register, he said it was the reason the EC attempted laying a fresh bill before parliament for Ghana Card to be used as sole identity for voter registration.
The bill sought to ensure that the Ghana Card was the sole document for the identification of the citizen.
Furthermore, he said, this would enable the EC conduct the continuous voter registration exercise where citizens who turn 18years can walk into the nearest EC office and register to avoid the challenges associated with the limited voter registration exercise.

Source:expressnewsghana.com