Ghanaian Times: The Electoral Commission deserves praise for successful 2020 voter registration exercise

The Electoral Commission (EC) yesterday announced that it has ended the 38-day new voter registration exercise, after recording a total of 16,963,306 eligible voters.

Describing the electoral roll as provisional, it said, out of the number, 16,932, 492 were registered during the 36-day normal registration exercise with 30, 814 registering during the two-day mop up exercise.

At its weekly press briefing dubbed “Let the Citizens Know,” the Commission explained that the register was provisional because there were ongoing processes to take the register through to ensure that it is credible for the December 7, 2020 general elections.

For us at the Ghanaian Times, we heave a huge sigh of relief that the exercise is over.

We are all aware of the tension that was brought about by political actors before and during the registration exercise and were engaged in various acts including attacking and killing some members of the public.

Our prayer all along was that in spite of the disturbances the exercise must end successfully and peacefully.

Thank God it has ended and there appears to be some reasonable acceptance by all parties who agree that the number of eligible voters captured by the EC is a near true reflection of the voter population in the country.

Besides the skirmishes, the manoeuvres, the attacks, and the gun shots, the process has been somewhat smooth and the voter registration equipment used to capture the bio-data of the voters have served us well.

This was contrary to the fears expressed by some who thought that the machines could disappoint during the exercise.

Indeed, the voter registration machines were one of the major points of debate and whilst the opposition feared that it may be used to suppress registration in their strongholds, the EC and members of the party in government were confident that the exercise would not be jeopardised by the registration equipment.

The evidence on the ground and reports coming from the field indicate that the exercise was successful in spite of few glitches recorded at some centres.

Whilst we commend the EC and Ghanaians at large for the success of the exercise, we equally condemn the activities of some people that threatened to derail the exercise but credit must go to the security agencies for nipping the distractions in the bud.

It is our hope that in future, we would put in place stringent and workable laws and regulations to guide everyone during a national registration exercise to avoid the violent incidents that we just witnessed.

It is not for nothing that Ghana is touted as a beacon of hope in the midst of political upheavals in West Africa, and her ability to overcome difficult challenges with ease is what has brought us this far.

It is important, therefore, that we continue to exhibit that resilience and jealously guard against our democratic achievements less we lose our grip on the gains we have made so far.

Again, the EC and all Ghanaians deserve a pat on the shoulder for going through a successful registration exercise which at different times put all of us on edge.

We are thankful that all has come to a successful end.