Charging Ghanaians to check names on voters’ register illegal — NDC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called on parliament to question the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding the recently concluded voters’ exhibition exercise.

This comes after the EC introduced a short code for verifying voter details, where eligible voters who utilised this option were charged 50 pesewas as a service fee.

This has drawn condemnation from the NDC, which believes that no one should be charged a pesewa to check their details in the register.

READ ALSO: All You Need To Know About The Provisional Voters Register Exhibition

According to the Deputy Director of IT for the NDC, Rashid Tanko Computer, it is unlawful for the EC to provide a service that incurs a 50 pesewas charge for citizens, especially when Parliament had already approved a budget for the elections, including the exhibition exercise.

“Already these people, you are taking our e-levy and we want to abolish it. Now you are using the short code to milk innocent Ghanaians, which is supposed to be free. They are making money out of it.

“EC is not an organisation that should make a profit. It is not a profit-making organisation. So why should they be charging people for trying to check their names? This is an illegal process of trying to dupe Ghanaians. And we think that what they are doing is unfair”, he said on Citi News.

He added, “Because the Electoral Commission is not a profit-making organisation. And they should not be charging Ghanaians when they go there to check their names. So if you design a short code, why should you charge Ghanaians for that?

“Because you have gone for a budget through the Special Budget Committee in Parliament for this exercise and they have given you the money, so why are you charging Ghanaians to go for it? So we think that they should go and answer questions about it.”

The provisional voters register exhibition began on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, and ended on Tuesday, August 27.

The one-week exercise, which is among the major activities the EC will undertake ahead of the 2024 general election, took place at all polling stations in all 268 districts nationwide from 0700 hours to 1800 hours.

The exhibition offered voters, particularly those who registered in the just-ended mop-up registration exercise the opportunity to verify their details and identify their polling stations.