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Five opposition political parties in Ghana including the National Democratic Congress (NDC) filed a lawsuit against the Electoral Commission at the Supreme Court, following the electoral management body’s decision to restrict the upcoming limited voter registration exercise to its district offices.
The five parties are: the NDC, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), All People’s Congress, Liberal Party of Ghana and the Great Consolidated Popular Party.
In their writ, the parties said it is unlawful and unreasonable for the electoral management body to restrict the centers for the exercise to just its district offices.
The parties believe that the EC’s decision to restrict voter registration centers to district offices has the potential to deprive many eligible voters of their right to register to vote in public elections.
The parties have filed an application for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the EC from proceeding with the announced limited voter registration exercise pending the final determination of the substantive matter.
The parties want the Supreme Court to declare 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 EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, has said that the exercise will be held at all 268 district offices of the EC across the country.
The EC has scheduled to start the limited voter registration on Tuesday (12 September 2023) and will end on Monday (2 October). Registration is scheduled to start at 8:00am each day and end at 5:00pm.
