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The Electoral Commission (EC) says it is working assiduously to address concerns of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and other stakeholders to deliver a credible register for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Samuel Tettey, said the election management body should be trusted to address the discrepancies identified by the NDC as it has done over the years.
“The commission would like to assure the general public and all stakeholders that all identified discrepancies about the provisional voters register are being corrected. To date, the register is almost near-perfect, as most of the discrepancies have fully been resolved,” Mr Tettey told a news conference in Accra on Thursday.
The conference was to address what the NDC said were widespread discrepancies in the voter roll identified during the exhibition for which the party called for a forensic audit ahead of the polls slated for December 7.
The party is scheduled to initiate a nationwide demonstration tomorrow, aiming to urge the Commission to conduct an audit of the electoral roll and rectify it in preparation for the upcoming elections.
However, the Commission has stated that the request for an audit of the voter roll is premature, asserting that it would not contribute any value to the established and proven procedures already in place for the enhancement and purification of the provisional voters register.
According to Mr Tettey, the exhibition exercise through which the NDC identified the discrepancies is in itself an audit process and the party must see it as an avenue to correct the defects.
“The exhibition offers an avenue for the auditing of the register. It unearths discrepancies and allows for prescribed legal processes to correct the discrepancies. The exhibition exercise enables citizens to verify their details and allows for the unearthing of discrepancies in the register,” Mr Tettey explained.
In his view, the planned demonstration by the NDC is needless as there are an avalanche of means to have their concerns addressed rather than hitting the street.
“The Commission strongly believes that the surest way to attaining a credible and robust register is not through demonstrations. There is simply nothing to demonstrate about. This is because the Commission has repeatedly requested the data on discrepancies from the NDC to no avail.
“We are of the view that, the stance taken by the NDC will not produce a credible register. The Commission is of the view that the best place to resolve the issues they have identified is the discussion table,” he stated.
To him, the protest march would only heighten the political tension and create non existing suspicions which are unwarranted and does not augur well for the polls.
“We call on the former President, His Excellency John Mahama, an eminent and respected statesman of the Republic, to encourage and bring his party to the table as that is the best place to address issues and ascertain the truth regarding the voters register. On our part, we assure the NDC of a transparent process that would demonstrate to them that all their concerns have been resolved,” Mr Tettey assured.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
