Politics of Friday, 23 March 2012

Source: GNA

Public urged to exercise restrain during registration

Mr Batong Braimah, Asutifi District Electoral Officer on Friday advised eligible voters to comport themselves and avoid acts that could mar the biometric registration exercise due to commence on Saturday March 24, this year.

The electoral officer gave the advice when he addressed civil society groups, Assembly Members, traditional authorities and other stakeholders at a meeting at Kenyasi Number Two in the district.

Mr. Braimah said, there was the need to have a credible voters register and “so prospective voters should comport themselves at the various registration centres.”

The district office of the EC organised the meeting to educate the participants on the new voters’ registration exercise.

Mr. Braimah observed that Ghana had made remarkable strides in constitutional and inter-party democracy and that the newly introduced system should not be a worry to anybody.

He gave the assurance that the EC had all the necessary logistics, equipment and support to produce a credible voters’ register that would subsequently lead to fairness and transparency in the December polls.

Mr. Braimah said the contributions of traditional authorities, media, political parties and civil society organizations to the success of the registration exercise could not be over-emphasized.

“The system of ways and means to win elections will be a thing of the past if a credible register is obtained”, he said, and advised eligible voters to shun double registration and other punishable offences.

Mr. Braimah explained that since Ghana had opted for constitutional rule it was incumbent on every citizen to ensure the EC received the necessary support to make the biometric voters’ registration exercise successful, saying the new system was the panacea to election rigging.**