Mass registration: Guarantors will not be disenfranchised – EC clears

The Electoral Commission(EC) has clarified that guarantors who turn up at the registration centres to vouch for registrants can do so for up to ten individuals.

A Press Statement by the Commission maintained that anyone who guarantees for more than the required number falls foul of the law and may be prosecuted.

“Our attention has also been drawn to audio circulating on social media to the effect that Guarantors who guarantee for up to ten (10) people will be disenfranchised. This is not true.

“C.I. 126 expressly states that Guarantors can guarantee for up to ten (10) people. They will not be disenfranchised. However, any individual who guarantees for more than ten (10) persons will be picked up by our system and prosecuted. We call on the general public to be circumspect and disregard false information which is not rooted in our Laws and C.I.’s.”

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has dismissed a photograph making rounds on social media purporting to be some registrants crowded at a registration centre while going through the EC’s mass registration exercise.

The Election Management Body(EMB) disputed the said photograph in circulation insisting it cannot be a scene at a Registration Centre.

“The photograph does not show the usual Registration Centre set up that characterises all EC’s Registration Centres. It just shows a large crowd gathered together in an area. Again, the originator of the photograph does not indicate the Registration Centre where the photograph was taken. This is not a Registration Centre of the EC and we call on the public to disregard it.”