EC extends re-registration of deleted NHIS registrants

The Electoral Commission (EC) has offered a second opportunity to deleted NHIS registrants, to get back onto the voters' register ahead of the December polls.

The EC had earlier explained that there is no indication that an extension would ensure more people are re-registered.

EC’s Communications Director, Eric Dzakpasu, at a press conference last Friday stated that “there is no evidence that when an extension is granted, the remaining people will come out of their houses or communities to get their name re-registered.”

But after pleas by opposition parties and the general public the EC has decided to offer a lifeline to the over 30, 000 people who failed to register during the first registration period.

After an IPAC meeting Wednesday, the EC stated that “we are giving the deleted NHIS registrants a second opportunity from 5th to 12th August 2016 to re-register. So if you were unable to do earlier you have a second opportunity to get yourself back onto the voters’ register.”

EC petitioned to extend re-registration

The Member of Parliament for the Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alex Afenyo Markin, also petitioned the Commission to extend the window of re-registration for NHIS card registrants by 10 days.

The MP lamented that the exercise in his constituency has been fraught with power and logistical challenges which have prevented the EC from capturing as many names as possible.