Court throws out NDC's suit against reopening of voters’ register

An attempt by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to block the Electoral Commission (EC) from re-opening the voters’ register for one day on October 1, 2020 has fallen on the rocks.

An Accra High Court on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 threw out the suit by the NDC challenging the decision of the EC.

The court ruled that the NDC should have filed the suit on notice so that the EC could have been served.

The NDC is finalising processes to refile the suit on notice, according to a report by state-owned Daily Graphic.

The NDC was praying the court to grant an injunction on the EC restraining it from reopening the register without first gazetting it.

The opposition party also wanted the Court to order the EC to comply with Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I. 91) for the intended registration exercise.

The NDC in its suit said it decided to challenge the registration exercise because the Commission did not publish a 21 days’ notice of the planned exercise in the gazette per the law governing elections in Ghana.

The party is among other things seeking from the court “A declaration that the Electoral Commission has acted ultra vires in its attempt to reopen and/or conduct registration of voters scheduled for Thursday, October 1, 2020 when the Electoral Commission has not caused to be published in the Gazette, twenty-one (21) days’ notice of this voters registration to the political parties and the general public;” the NDC averred in its statement of claim.”