Voter Registration: Will undertake registration in difficult-to-reach areas next year – EC tells MP

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), Jean Mensa, has said that persons in constituents with terrains that make it difficult for them to access district offices of the Electoral Commission (EC) and get registered in the ongoing voter registration exercise should wait till next year when the EC brings the registration exercise closer to them to enable them to get registered.

The EC Chairperson made this known in a response to the Member of Parliament (MP) for Afram Plains North Constituency, Betty Krosbi Mensah, who had petitioned the commission on the hard-to-reach nature of her constituency and how that potentially disenfranchises thousands of people.

In a response dated September 15, 2023, and signed by Jean Mensa, the EC told the MP that nothing would be done about the situation this year, suggesting to her to tell her constituents to wait till next year when registration of voters will be done in Constituencies with such challenges.

“The Commission has taken note of your concerns in the Afram North Constituency. We wish to inform you that the Commission will undertake registration in difficult-to-reach areas including yours next year. We wish you the best,” the EC letter read.

The EC has been much criticised for organising the limited voter registration exercise, which seeks to capture first-time voters, in only its district offices. But the EC has defended its actions, explaining among others that voting is not compulsory even if it’s a right.