Carter Centre to assess registration process

Accra, Oct. 27, GNA - A Carter Centre delegation will visit Ghana from October 27-31 to assess the ongoing difficulties and irregularities with voter registration processes and other concerns ahead of the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The group include Carter Centre Vice President for Peace Programs, Dr John Stremlau, former Canadian Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, Ron Gould, elections operations expert Glenn Cowan, and Carter Centre Assistant Director of the Democracy Program John Marsh. They will meet with the Electoral Commission, political actors, representatives of civil society and the media. This was contained in a release issued by the Carter Centre to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday.

"The Carter Centre remains concerned about the deterioration of public confidence in the elections process and the potential for violence, but we are hopeful that significant improvement can still be made before December 7," the release said. Dr. Stremlau said in the release: "We look forward to hearing from the political leadership and other decision-makers who can give us first-hand information."

The delegation's visit is part of the Centre's ongoing support to Ghana's efforts to conduct peaceful, credible and transparent democratic elections.

Nine Carter Centre long-term observers have been deployed throughout Ghana to monitor campaigning and other political activities since early September. They will be joined by a 50-person delegation closer to Election Day.