The Electoral Commission (EC) office in the Tamale Metropolis has raised serious concerns regarding what it perceives as efforts by political parties to include ineligible voters in the electoral register.
The Director of the Tamale Metro branch of the Commission, Bismark Nteh, expressed dismay over the persistence of this unlawful activity despite numerous engagements with political parties to discourage it.
Mr. Nteh is apprehensive about the potential repercussions for the individuals involved when their falsely claimed ages come back to haunt them in the future. Consequently, he advised parents to discourage their children from engaging in such fraudulent practices.
“I will plead with parents that they shouldn’t allow political parties to deceive them, that because they want a number of people to register, indeed they will have the number, these children are going to suffer in future. One day they will need their actual ages for something and it will affect them,” the Tamale Metro Director of the Electoral Commission in the Northern Region said.
“This is an artificial problem created by the EC, because people come there early, and they don’t get to be registered on time, the entire EC must be blamed,” the NDC Constituency Chairman for Okaikwei North said.
Nonetheless, the Greater Accra Regional Chapter of the NDC has taken the initiative to provide transportation for individuals who may face difficulties accessing registration centers.
Emmanuel Nii Ashie-Moore, the Regional Chairman, explained that this action is essential to ensure that a significant number of party members who are 18 years and older can get registered.
This move comes in response to appeals from various political parties urging the Electoral Commission (EC) to expand the number of registration centers for the upcoming voter registration exercise, scheduled to run from September 12 to October 2, 2023. These parties argued that the 268 EC district offices designated for the exercise were insufficient.