The electoral commission of Ghana is rejecting criticism it is doing the bidding of the ruling National Democratic Congress by deleting the names of supporters of the main opposition New Patriotic Party from voter lists. The electoral commission is preparing for November 7 presidential, parliamentary and local elections. Following an order from the Supreme Court, the electoral commission this week began expunging the names from the voter list of those who registered using their National Health Insurance Scheme identification card. But Samuel Pyne, the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NPP, said the electoral commission deleted the names of party supporters who did not use their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) identification cards.
Local media quoted Pyne as saying, “They should look at the pressure at the EC offices, especially in Ashanti region, lots of people there, and people are getting frustrated, people feel the NDC is manipulating the system at the EC’s office in Ashanti region. Those who go there are frustrated, telling us that when NDC officials come there, the system changes in favor of NDC, if that is a fact, they should do something about it to redeem their image,” Pyne said.
In an interview with VOA, Eric Dzakpasu, electoral commission spokesman, said the accusations are without merit. He says the electoral commission collects basic information about the prospective voter and the type of identification used for the registration.
Full Article: Ghana Electoral Commission Rejects Accusation of Bias.
