You can wait and register next year - Serebour Quicoe to Ghanaians in hard-to-reach areas

The Electoral Commission has clarified that eligible voters who cannot register at the Commission's district offices nationwide will need to wait until next year to do so. Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the Commission's Director of Electoral Services, made this statement during an interview on Asempa FM's Ekosiisen on Monday, September 19.

Dr. Quaicoe explained, "For those in hard-to-reach areas, we are only appealing to them to find a way to get to the district offices for the registration. Otherwise, they would have to wait for next year. But even next year, we can't be everywhere. It will depend on situations on the ground in terms of figures. Because we won't say that, because we have to serve hard-to-reach areas, we will send our tools to just three people in a particular area.

"So, we will work with the stakeholders to be sure that if a place is indeed hard-to-reach, and that we have people there before we move. That will be a form of mopping because we are still going to maintain the district office registration and there will be continuous registration," he noted.

Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, the Member of Parliament for Wa East, called on the EC to establish a new registration center for the Wa East District due to accessibility challenges in the current district capital, Funsi. He emphasized that many eligible voters are unable to reach the capital for registration, and the situation requires urgent attention.

Despite legal challenges from opposition parties regarding the EC's decision not to conduct registration in electoral areas this year, the Commission is proceeding with the exercise. The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, attributed the difficulty in decentralizing the registration process partly to Parliament's failure to pass the proposed Constitutional Instrument C.I. needed for approval.

Mrs. Mensa explained, "As you are all aware, the Commission prepared a draft C.I for continuous registration in all district offices nationwide. This initiative started last year and the registration we were envisioning under the draft C.I was on a sustained long-term basis."

"Indeed, had the C. I been passed we would have had some six months this year to register voters at any time of their choice. Our 2023 budget and work plan were prepared along those lines. Our 2023 work plan and budget were based on a continuous registration of voters in our district offices nationwide, we did not factor electoral area registration in our 2023 work plan and budget," she explained.

Furthermore, the EC announced that it has increased the number of registration stations in Tamale and will continue to do so in other areas as necessary. This expansion aims to ensure that eligible voters are not disenfranchised, and the Commission is actively working to address any challenges encountered during the registration process.