Limited Voter Registration: Providing Transportation To Constituents Financially Draining – Zanetor Laments
Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey, Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, has expressed worry about the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.
According to the Korle Klottey lawmaker, the exercise is draining MPs financially.
Dr. Zanetor said that MPs need to help constituents by providing transportation and other support to those who need to register.
“Lots of people who are here live from hand to mouth. Any moment they sit here is money potentially they can make in a day. We need to make the process a little smoother. I’m not quite sure what the EC is going to do about this situation. We have too many districts and one location, which is making it very stressful for lots of those who are here,” she lamented.
She said it is the case across the country where MPs have to cater for the transportation to and from the district registration centres, a financial burden.
“The exercise is having a financial toll on MPs, and it’s the case across the board, and it’s one of the things why we were not in favour of the limited registration exercise being done in this form.”
The MP described the process as chaotic due to the large number of districts being served by a single location.
“It’s a bit chaotic because we have so many districts here. Unfortunately, some machines keep going offline, making the process drag off a bit. A lot is going on, things are difficult, and you are trying to convince people to do their citizenry duty, which is to get registered. You want to make sure that the process is easy and not so stressful and not for people to come to wait here all day,” she lamented.
She made the remarks during a visit to the EC head office with former President John Mahama on September 15 to assess the exercise.
She urged the EC to decentralize the registration exercise and provide more resources to ensure a smooth and efficient process from now on.
The EC began the voter registration exercise on September 12 at its district offices across the country to enable individuals who have attained the age of 18 to acquire voter identity cards for the upcoming 2024 presidential and parliamentary polls.