WELL DONE, EC, BUT …

Page 7: Daily Graphic, May 7, 2012. THE 40-day nation-wide biometric voters registration (BVR) exercise officially ended on Saturday, May 5, 2012. If there is anything to go by, then the mad rush of Ghanaians to register, especially during the first three phases of the exercise, is an indication that the exercise has been a success. We must, therefore, pad ourselves on the back. From the technical and human perspectives, the exercise had its challenges but those difficulties seemed to have been overcome as it entered its fourth and final phase. Although official figures are yet to be put out, we believe the Electoral Commission (EC) may achieve its target of registering 12 million voters. The low turnout at various registration centres during the fourth and final phase of the exercise can only point to the anxiety and desire among many eligible voters to have their names on the electoral roll for the 2012 general election which compelled them to register during the first three phases of the exercise. We, however, believe it will not be out of place for the EC to give serious thought to extending the exercise in areas which recorded hitches, including violence, shortage of materials and breakdown of equipment during the first two phases of the exercise. The Daily Graphic is also concerned about the high number of cases of double registration recorded in the first three phases. The 8,000 figure, to us, is on the high side and we urge the EC to clean the register of any unqualified voter. We believe the EC and Ghanaians in general have learnt great lessons from the exercise and should begin taking steps to prepare for the general election in December 2012. The Daily Graphic appeals to the EC to begin to look for solutions to address the large number of voters who may turn up at particular polling stations, especially those stations which recorded high turn-outs during the first and second phases of the BVR exercise. This is because all those who registered at such stations and are desirous of voting must be allowed to do so. That is the only way we will allow the will of the people to prevail, instead of allowing others to impose their authority on us. The Daily Graphic believes that the elections will be peaceful if Ghanaians abide by the rules of the game and are also tolerant of one another’s views. We hope that all the political parties which will take part in the elections have a duty to themselves and the country to appoint well-trained agents to observe the elections on their behalf. That is necessary if the country is to experience vigilance on polling day to avoid disputes over the release of results from the polling stations through to the constituency levels. Most of the confusion that characterised the BVR exercise resulted from the lack of knowledge of the rules and regulations governing the exercise. We need no reminder that the whole world is looking at the way Ghana will successfully organise this year’s elections. The country is beginning to suffer from the unwarranted violence, acrimony and hate speech that is becoming part of our politics as speculators dictate the direction of the economy for fear that the elections may not be peaceful. We cannot afford to do anything to undermine the confidence reposed in the country by our well-wishers, including our development partners.