General News of Friday, 10 July 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

We will depend on C.I to mature for the transfer of votes - EC

Jean Mensa, EC Chairperson play videoJean Mensa, EC Chairperson

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it will depend on the C.I. which is yet to mature in Parliament for registered voters to exercise their franchise regardless of their location.

According to the Deputy Chairman of Operations at the EC, Samuel Tettey, procedures for the transfer of votes, is projected to commence in October this year.

Speaking at a press briefing in Accra on Friday July 10, Mr Tettey said; “With the transfer of votes which is slated for October this year, the date will be fixed when the C.I matures”

He added; “It is the Commission’s mandate to ensure that every Ghanaian who is eligible to vote is given the chance so we will take all necessary measures for everyone who qualifies to vote”

Providing a further update from an earlier briefing on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, the Electoral Commission says it has so far registered over 3 million applicants within 9 days of the voter registration exercise.

This comes from a previous some 2,215,816 recorded applicants across parts of the country within the first six days of the registration exercise.

Meanwhile, the EC has announced the deployment of officials to register qualified Senior High School (SHS) students amid the ongoing voter registration exercise.

The EC said the move will entail the deployment of mobile vans to register students who due to COVID-19 imposed restrictions in schools cannot register.

Additionally, The Electoral Commission (EC) has launched an initiative aimed at providing timely updates to the citizenry on its operations of the ongoing voter registration exercise.

The initiative which is dubbed; “Let the Citizens Know” affords the Commission an opportunity to also engage the press on Wednesday and Friday of each week on its operations.

The compilation of a new voter register by the EC commenced on June 30, 2020, through to July 5, 2020, in the first phase of the exercise across the country.

The exercise, which is expected to last for 38 days, is projected to capture the biometric data of about 17 million Ghanaians eligible to vote ahead of the 2020 December 7 general elections.

Parliament voted to approve a C.I 126 which gives legal backing to the Electoral Commission to compile a new voter register for the December 2020 polls.