The National Democratic Congress (NDC) together with four other political parties have filed a suit at the Supreme Court against the Electoral Commission, Ghana (EC).
Among the reliefs being sought by the plaintiffs is a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of articles 45(a), 45(e) and 42 of the Constitution, the decision by the EC to undertake the 2023 limited/continuous voter registration at the district offices of the EC instead of undertaking same on the basis of electoral areas “will result in voter suppression particularly in rural constituencies of the country, and is thus unconstitutional as it violates the rights of first-time voters to register and vote”.
The suit was filed on Thursday, September 7 on behalf of the five political parties by lawyer Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, who is also the head of NDC’s Legal Team.
The political parties partnering the NDC in the suit are Convention People’s Party (CPP), All People’s Congress (APC), Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG) and the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP).
The EC has scheduled to start the limited voter registration on Tuesday, September 12.
It will end on Monday, October 2.
Registration is scheduled to start at 8:00am each day and end at 5:00pm.
The decision by the Commission to conduct the exercise at its district offices has stirred controversy with civil society groups raising concerns.
The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), for instance, says the exercise will disenfranchise many.
“When they did the official announcement and it came to light that they are now considering, in addition to the Ghana Card, reactivating the vouching system so people who do not have the Ghana Card can also be guaranteed to register by having two people to vouch for them, then it means now it is not only the person who is going to register who will be traveling from his place to the district office but also will have to travel with two people,” CDD-Ghana’s Programmes Manager Paul Nana Kwesi Aborampah-Mensah told TV3 on Wednesday, September 6 on Ghana Tonight.
“So, it then became worse to all the factors that we were considering.”
For the five political parties, they are filing the suit for the EC to enforce the provisions of the 1992 Constitution under articles 2(1)(b) and 130(1)(a).