Organize a limited registration exercise for by-elections – from group to EC

Saturday, January 26, 2019 Policy

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-01-26

A youth group, called the Youth Bridge Foundation, wants the Electoral Commission to immediately hold a limited registration exercise in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency before the by-elections in the region.

The group indicated that the move would allow residents 18 years of age and over to exercise their right to vote in the by-election.

In a statement, the group said that many people would be deprived of the right to vote if the electoral commission ignored the call.

"We therefore call on the Electoral Commission to open an enrollment exercise limited to all young voters of Ayawaso West Wuogon who have the right to vote and who have not yet been registered," said the group in a statement signed by its chairman. Seth Oteng.

The partial election scheduled for 31 January 2019 became necessary after the death of the deputy of the constituency, Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko.

The Youth Bridge Foundation congratulated the electoral commission for its efforts to hold the by-election, adding that Ghana's electoral law enjoined the commission to organize such registration exercises. limited so as not to deprive some young Ghanaian citizens of rights 18 years after the 2016 general election. "

As a youth development and empowerment agency, we can not remain inactive, while some young people are clearly deprived of the right to vote as a result of the omission or commission of the Electoral Commission. The situation is worrisome because, over the years, the Commission's breach of its constitutional obligation to register electors for the first time before majority-ballot elections appears to have been institutionalized as a norm rather than an exception. This act of negligence and abandonment of duty should never be sanctioned, because it shows the commitment of the Commission to participate in the electoral processes of Ghana, "the group added in a statement.

Ayawaso West Wuogon has about 60,000 voters.

The EC said it would use the 2016 voters' register for the conduct of the election.

The EC continued on January 31 the partial election of Ayawaso West Wuogon

Bismark Aborbi-Ayitey, chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency in Ayawaso West Wuogon, has already dragged the EC to the Supreme Court challenging the January 31, 2018 date set by the zone.

According to the trial, which has the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General as defendants, the date of 31 January 2019 exceeds the 60-day deadline stipulated in the constitution.

"A statement that the decision of the 2nd respondent to hold and supervise by-elections in the constituency of Ayawaso West Wuogon on January 31, 2019, and not before or on January 26, 2019, is inconsistent with Article 112 (5) of the Constitution, and so is null and void, "said Bismark in his lawsuit.

Article 112 (5) of the Constitution stipulates that "Whenever a vacancy occurs in Parliament, the Clerk of Parliament shall inform the Electoral Commission in writing within seven days of its knowledge. and a by-election must be held within thirty days after the vacancy, except in the case where the vacancy results from the death of a member, it must take place within sixty days of the vacancy. "

He therefore asks the court to order the Electoral Commission to organize the by-election by January 26, 2019 or before.