Compilation of new voters register to start in April 2020 – EC

The Electoral Commission (EC) says it will begin compiling the new voters register for the December 2020 elections in April.

The commission added it hopes to end the exercise by the end of May.

The Director of Electoral Services, Dr Serebour Quaicoe made this known in a radio interview with Accra-based Starr FM on Monday [January 20, 2020].

“We want to start by mid-April and by the end of May we would have finished,” he said.

Reacting to the explanation by the National Identification Authority (NIA) that it is willing to hand over its data to the EC, Mr Quaicoe said: “We have a challenge with their data, we are targeting over 10million people but they have about 7 million so we don’t know when they will be ready. And besides we have to attach a polling station to all those numbers”.

The EC has said it was planning to procure a new biometric voter management system (BVMS) and compile a new voters register since the current system is outdated.

While some 13 political parties led by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have thrown their weight behind the EC for the new BVMS and compilation of the new register, the Inter-Party Resistance Against the New Voters Register made up of six political parties led by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has kicked against it.

Meanwhile, the EC says the procurement of the new BVMS and compiling of a new register will save the country GH₵173.07 million, compared to upgrading the current system.