Limited voters’ registration: Those in hard-to-reach areas can wait for next year – Dr. Serebour Quaicoe

Eligible voters will have to wait until next year to register if they are unable to do so at one of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) district offices nationwide.

On Monday, September 19, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, director of electoral services, said this in an interview with Ekosii Sen on Asempa FM.

He stated that, subject to legislative approval for its Constitutional Instrument, the EC intends to establish special provisions for difficult-to-reach areas starting in 2019. C.I.

Additionally, in order to register potential voters at any moment, the Commission will conduct a continuous registration procedure at its offices.

Dr. Quaicoe underlined that they recognize the need to encourage folks in difficult-to-reach locations to make an effort to travel to the district offices for registration, they recognize the need to provide access to such areas.

In order to ensure effective registration in certain places, he did say that the Commission will review the situation on the ground and work with stakeholders.

In the meanwhile, due to accessibility issues, Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasaw, member of parliament for Wa East, has requested of the EC to build a new registration facility for the Wa East area.

He emphasized that voter registration is severely hampered by the difficulty of getting to Funsi, the district’s capital.

The opposition parties want the EC to conduct registration in election zones this year, therefore they are suing, but the Commission is still going through with its registration drive.

The EC’s Chairwoman, Mrs. Jean Mensa, attributed Parliament’s inability to ratify the new Constitutional Instrument C.I. to the Commission’s struggles in decentralizing the registration procedure.