Stop printing ballot papers – NDC tells Electoral Commission

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on the Electoral Commission to halt the printing of ballot papers until all outstanding issues regarding the credibility of the voters’ register are resolved.

Addressing the press in Ho, on October 10, National Chairman of the NDC, Johnson Asiedu Nketia questioned the EC’s decision to proceed with the printing of ballot papers using a register yet to be certified.

He indicated that the Electoral Commission at the last televised IPAC meeting admitted to some vulnerabilities with their system including the wrong transfer of voters which the Commission undertook to correct, a process yet to be completed.

“When the Electoral Commission undertook to clean the register, exhibit it, for corrections to be made so we get a finalized register, we took it with a pinch of salt but we were dealing with public opinion and so we didn’t want to create any impression that we were not giving them the opportunity to correct their mistakes.”

“The opportunity given to them to correct their mistakes, so we move forward with our democracy is now being abused,” he added.

The NDC Chairman noted that the printing of ballot papers scheduled for Friday despite the pending concerns about the credibility of the register falls in line with the NDC’s considered view that the EC is working to ensure that the outcome of the December 7, elections is skewed.

Mr. Asiedu Nketia demanded that the Electoral Commission halts the printing of the ballot papers while appealing to CSOs and persons interested in free, fair and transparent elections to pressure the EC to work within the constitutional framework.

“We are calling on the EC to halt whatever plans they have for the printing of ballot papers, because ballot papers are based on the finalized register and the finalized electoral code books and ballot statistics which are made available to all stakeholders, so we know we don’t have anything to hide,” he said.

He emphasized that the NDC will continue to demand fair play from the Electoral Commission to ensure this year’s elections are conducted in a manner acceptable to all political parties and the Ghanaian public.

Source:onuaonline.com