At a Regional Post-Election Consultative Forum organized by the Widows and Orphans Movement and the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NET RIGHT) in the Upper East Region, the centralization of the Limited Voters Registration Exercise topped the list of concerns raised by stakeholders.
It would be recalled that prior to the conduct of the December 7, 2024 election, the Electoral Commission embarked on a limited voter registration exercise at the various district offices.
This meant that interested persons had to go from their various communities to the district offices of the Electoral Commission before they could register.
In some instances, there were long queues recorded and delays leading some individuals to return home and never take the pain to get registered.
According to some stakeholders at the Regional Consultative Forum on Post-Election Accountability organized in partnership with the Star-Ghana Foundation with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the centralization led to many women and persons with disabilities getting disenfranchised.
They hope that the EC will in the future, conduct such exercises either at the polling station level or electoral area level.
Speaking to the Media Hannah Asanyuure Talata, Assembly Member for Anafobisi Electoral Area in the Bongo District, and Alexis Ayamdoo, Industrial Liaison Officer of the Bolgatanga Technical University all raised concern about the centralization and how it left some voters disenfranchised.
“The issue with the biometric machine not picking the fingerprint which causes delays should be looked at. Another serious issue is the centralization of the registration. Many people were calling us that they were there but couldn’t register. There is the need for them to even bring it to the polling station and if they cannot, why not the electoral area? So, we want them to bring it closer to us,” Asanyuure said
Mr. Ayamdoo on his part said “If you have people moving from their various communities to the district level is problematic because many women are not able to go to these centers to register. Sometimes people have to sleep and continue the process overnight. As a result of this, some women were disenfranchised and that is why we are advocating that the Electoral Commission must ensure inclusion by decentralizing the registration either at the polling station or electoral area level”.
Speaking to the media, Elizabeth Anfo, Programmes Coordinator, Widows and Orphans Movement, the Focal Organization for NETRIGHT, called on the Electoral Commission to put in place a mechanism to monitor Gender Responsive initiatives.
“One thing that came up is about the political parties being intentional with creating space for women and also getting somebody to monitor gender issues. So, we hope that the EC will get somebody to observe some of the gender issues and include such issues in their training will go a long way to help.
On her part, Abigail Adumolga, Gender and Child Protection Manager of Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana and a Member of NETRIGHT noted that women over the years have been underrepresented adding the exercise is to discuss the processes of conducting elections to ensure more inclusion.
