The Electoral Commission (EC) has suspended its planned compilation of a new voters register following the outbreak of Covid-19 in the country.
The EC initially scheduled April 18, 2020, for compilation of the new voters’ register ahead of the December 2020 elections. But following the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the country no new date has been announced.
Addressing journalists after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting today , the EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, said the commission is collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favourable date depending on the prevalence rate of the virus.
“We had planned to do the registration on the [18th of April] but because of the pandemic, we can’t do it on the 18th so we are observing what is happening around Ghana and the global issue,” Mr Quaicoe said to the press.
This announcement was expected following earlier comments made by the General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, after the meeting today.
He said the date for the registration was “likely to change depending on how it [the handling of the virus] goes.”
His comments also came after the EC said it will announce a new date for the compilation of the new register.
The EC has said it wants to ensure that the register that is used on the election day is more credible and efficient than the existing one hence the need for a new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS).
The Commission is asking to replace its biometric machines to better address verification challenges that could occur during elections.
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Meanwhile, the opposition NDC has consistently campaigned against the new voters’ register.
