The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is appealing to the Electoral Commission (EC) for extension of the Limited Voter Registration to enable prospective electorates who missed out during the registration period to do so in order not to disenfranchise anybody.
The think-tank institute wants the electoral body to extend the registration period to two weeks, during which they believe more people would be captured for the November 7 general elections.
Executive Director of the IEA, Mrs. Jean Mensah speaking in an interaction with Adom FM, Monday evening, said the extension has become necessary due to the huge number of people nationwide who could not register during the two-week exercise.
What was more worrying, she noted, was the number of prospective voters who joined the que and were so eager to register but turned away during the last day of the exercise.
For instance, she said so many students of the University of Ghana, Legon, and other tertiary institutions could not register their names because of inadequate materials and equipment that were sent to the centers.
“I think if they are able to get enough materials and set up more centers and extend the time to two weeks, more people would be captured and the problem would be solved”, she noted.
Executive Director for Center for Africa and Democratic Affairs, Frank Adakwa Yiadom, contributing to the discussion said it was very necessary to give everybody the chance to register.
“If you look at the situation of the students for example, they are willing to register and so they moved to the center, sat for so many hours but could not register just because the Commission did not send enough materials for the registration exercise. So, it is important once the willingness is there for the EC to give them another chance to register”, he said.
