Thousands Can't Vote - They turned 18 after registration exercise

It is not clear as to the exact number of potential first-time voters likely to be disenfranchised as a result, but the 174,461 candidates who wrote this year’s May/June West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) give a fair idea as to the minimum number of people likely to be disenfranchised.

That conservative figure of senior high school (SHS) students, as well as a large number of youth outside the school environment, will be disenfranchised in the December polls.

However, the EC has given an assurance that the problem will be addressed when it rolls out a continuous registration exercise next year to ensure that people register immediately they turn 18 years.

The acting Director of Communications at the EC, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, said the commission would come out with an official date for the beginning of the exercise next year.

He said after the exercise had been rolled out, any person who turned 18 years could just walk into a district office of the EC for prompt registration.

According to Mr Owusu-Parry, the Public Elections (Registration of Voter) Regulations 2012 (CI 72) imposed an obligation on the EC to undertake continuous registration of voters.

Story by Kofi Yeboah

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