Dr Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC), has said that there is still a possibility that the current Voters’ Register will be used for the 2020 elections.
According to Dr Serebour Quaicoe, this will be determined by the deadly COVID-19 which has forced the EC to halt its plans of compiling a new Voters’ Register.
Since last year, the EC has justified why they need to compile a new register for the 2020 general elections.
The EC has said there is a need for a new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS) because it wants to ensure that the register that is used on the Election Day is more credible and efficient than the existing one.
Speaking on Joy FMs NewsFile , he said “There is a possibility we could use the current register for election 2020, but remember some over 1 million Ghanaians may not be registered, I know someone who came from outside and wants to contest in primaries but has no voters register, we have stated our case that using the current register is not fit for the purpose, it will cause issues, but we are not insensitive to what Ghanaians are saying, I don’t want any of my family members to contract the disease, everything we are doing now is just preparing if the pandemic is over”.
Dr Quaicoe in course of the week insisted that only a new voters’ register can ensure Ghana has a credible 2020 elections, however, he believes that is now dependent on the existence of COVID-19.
The EC initially scheduled April 18, 2020, for the compilation of the new Voters’ Register ahead of the December 2020 elections but following the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the country it was postponed and a new date has not been announced.
Ghana is currently battling with the novel coronavirus and many have suggested the EC find alternatives to the compilation of the new voters’ register.
This is because compiling a new voters register will see a lot of human contacts and health experts have advised that we practice social distancing to ensure the COVID-19 does not spread.
As of April 18, 2020, Ghana had recorded 834 COVID-19 cases with 83 recoveries and 8 deaths so far.
