The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs Jean Mensa has announced that the 2023 Voters’ Registration Exercise will commence on Tuesday, 12th September, 2023 to Monday, 2nd October 2023.
The Registration Exercise will afford Ghanaians who have attained the voting age of 18 years since the last registration in 2020 and others who are more than 18 years but for various reasons could not register during the 2020 registration the opportunity to do so.
Pursuant to Regulation 2 (1) of the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I.91), as amended, the Electoral Commission would embark on a Voters Registration Exercise in all the 268 District Offices of the Commission.
The Registration Exercise will commence on Tuesday, 12th September, 2023 to Monday 2nd October 2023. It will be between the hours of 8am and 5pm each day including Saturdays and Sundays.
The Registration Exercise will take place in all the 268 District Offices of the Commission including the Guan District. In other words, each District office will serve as a Registration Centre.
The Commission’s Staff at the District i.e., District Electoral Officers, Assistant District Electoral Officers and their Secretaries will serve as the Registration Officials.
EC’s Concern
The Commission finds it unfortunate that its efforts to strengthen the credibility and integrity of our Voters’ Roll and by extension our elections by the introduction of this draft C.I. has not received the support of Parliament.
Members of Parliament were of the view that NIA should fully resume its Registration Exercise nationwide before the C.I. could be considered.
Sadly, the NIA has not fully commenced its operations nationwide due to a lack of resources.
This leaves us with no option than to rely on the current C.I. with its inherent challenges to conduct the Voters’ Registration Exercise until such time that NIA would become fully operational.
Qualification And Requirements For Registration:
Requirements for the Registration Exercise remain the same as what pertains in the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2016 (C.I.91), (1) as amended.
A person qualifies to register to vote if he/she
• Is a citizen of Ghana
• Is 18 years of age or above
• Is of sound mind
• Is resident or ordinarily resident in an electoral area and
• Has not already registered as a voter; or
• Is not prohibited by any law in force from registering to vote
Proof Of Eligibility/Evidence of Identification
In addition to the above, all applicants are required to show proof of eligibility by tendering any of the following identification documents.
• A National Identification Card (Ghana Card)
• Ghana Passport
Applicants who do not have any of the identification documents listed above, are required to present two people who are already registered voters to vouch for their citizenship and age.
Per law, a guarantor can guarantee for up to ten (10) eligible applicants.
It is a criminal offence to guarantee for more than ten (10) applicants. As such persons who guarantee for more than ten (10) applicants will be prosecuted. It is also a criminal offence for a guarantor to guarantee for non-citizens or minors. The Commission will identify such persons and bring them up for prosecution.
We call on our media partners to assist us to educate the citizenry on this provision.
