We are yet to receive voter’s register and ballot papers from the NDC - EC

The Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, has said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is yet to receive the voter’s register and ballot papers.

According to him, the commission is expected to have received it a week prior to the elections to address challenges that may erupt.

“So these things should have been made available a long time ago because we knew that when such things are done you have people petitioning and the rest so we were thinking that if we had gotten it early enough, they would have addressed any challenges that may come out of it.

“There have been instances where we’ll go for the election, and at the venue of the election, the register will be brought to you, and you may have to be making calls so that whilst you’re doing the election new names will be added and subtracted.

“So these things should be a lesson to the political parties that when they’re going to do anything they should … ahead of time so that we will not be having challenges in registers…” dailyguidenetwork quoted Dr. Serebour Quaicoe.

Just four days before the NDC primaries, Dr. Kwabena Duffour has filed an interlocutory injunction against the party's upcoming presidential and parliamentary primaries.

The lawsuit specifically named the General Secretary of the NDC and the Director of the Elections Directorate, along with fellow flagbearer hopefuls John Dramani Mahama and another contender, Kojo Bonsu, as respondents.

According to the writ, the defendants have been commanded to enter their appearance within eight days of being served with the legal documents.

The writ added that failure to comply with the order may result in a judgment being passed in their absence without further notice.

Based on this development, the court has scheduled May 15 for the hearing, which will be after the elections.

Also, the Electoral Commission (EC) has pulled out of supervising the National Democratic Congress’ primaries scheduled for Saturday, May 13, until all legal issues associated with it are resolved.

According to the EC chairperson, their decision is to prevent the commission from being cited for contempt.

“In order that we are not cited for contempt, the Commission has taken the decision not to supervise the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections until after the determination of the case by the court,” citinewsroom.com quoted Jean Mensah during a meeting held on Wednesday, May 10.

The Director of Legal Affairs, Abraham Amaliba, has also announced that the court has agreed to hear the injunction case against the party primary at an earlier date.

The court process was brought by one of the presidential contestants, Dr. Kwabena Duffuor, who is seeking to stop the May 13 primaries over unsatisfactory processes.

YNA/WA