Voter Registration: EC’s ‘neglect’ for concerns only encourage parties to ignore IPAC meetings – Randy Abbey

Television host, Dr. Randy Abbey has raised concerns at the Electoral Commission's (EC) Limited Voter Registration Exercise.

He argues that the EC's approach to the registration process has not been inclusive and has failed to consider the concerns of political parties.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other opposition parties filed an injunction in court against the EC after they expressed their dissatisfaction with the approach the commission wanted to use in the limited registration.

They indicated that the EC’s decision to limit the registration to the district offices rather than the electoral areas will disenfranchise many people, especially those in the rural areas.

Dr. Abbey, in his reaction, questioned the purpose of participating in Intra-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) discussions if the EC would proceed with its decisions without addressing the parties' counterarguments on how to go about the registration.

“A lot of people have called the NDC to go back and join the IPAC. But look at what has happened with this particular exercise. The political parties who have remained in IPAC were the first to hold a press conference to say that the EC engaged us, and they told us that this is what they intended to do, we said no, it is not right. They said they were going to get back to us, and the next we heard, they said they were going to start the process.”

He argued that such actions by the commission only reinforce the position of parties that chose not to participate in IPAC discussions.

“If the EC acts this way plus many other things that people might want to speak about, it only goes to strengthen the position of a party that says that I won’t be there. Because what is the point in being there, engaging me and giving you a counter on the basis of what has been done over the years and you promising that you were going to get back to us on the issue and the next thing we hear is that you have announced it and you are going ahead with it, so what is the point in being part of that process and sitting there and engaging you. And it is something that led these parties to go to court,” he explained.

Furthermore, Dr. Abbey expressed disappointment that the EC's recent decisions appeared to hinder rather than enhance participation.

“Things have been done in a particular way; we’ve always called for an improvement. Now, I will not understand why in opening up the space for involvement, would rather be putting impediments in the way of people” he added.

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