An enraged parent on Saturday stormed the New Juaben South voter registration center on Saturday, May 11, 2024, to expose the Electoral Commission (EC) following the arrest of his 18-year-old son for double registration.
Martin Yaw Boateng, the aggrieved parent, expressed frustration over the Electoral Commission’s alleged failure to remove his son’s name from the voter register despite taking the necessary steps in 2020.
Boateng revealed that his son who was 14 -years old then, and his 12 -year old daughter were unlawfully registered in 2020 by unknown political actors allegedly associated with the ruling party against their will prompting him to formally request the removal of their names from the register in a letter dated July 23, 2020.
“I humbly submit this letter to your good office to plead with your highly esteemed office to delete the names, Boateng Kwakye Martin age 14 years with Voter ID Card No. 2588022436, and Boateng Akosua Pomaa age 12 years with Voter ID Card No. 2588022035 who are minors but were registered with false information by unknown persons from the Electoral Register. Attached is a copy of a supporting Affidavit sworn by my humble self. Counting on your usual co-operation” copy of the letter stated.
The committee established by the EC to address such cases sat on the case, confiscated the voter ID cards of the minors, and assured the EC that it would expunge their names.
However, the father is shocked to discover that his son’s name remained on the register four years on, resulting in his arrest on Saturday morning over double registration.
“The incident has traumatized my son, which is no fault of his,” Boateng said.
He urged the Electoral Commission to take immediate action to rectify the situation and preserve his son’s right to vote.
In response, the Electoral Commission has requested Boateng to return on Monday for further resolution of the matter.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission commenced its limited voter registration exercise on Tuesday, May 7, targeting first-time voters and those seeking to obtain a voter card.
Chairperson Madam Jean Mensa stated that the exercise aims to register approximately 623,000 first-time voters nationwide.
However, challenges with online registration prompted the EC to announce the commencement of offline voter registration on May 9, 2024.
Despite the shift to offline registration, there are persistent delays and long queues at registration centers, leading to incomplete registrations before the end of the day.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Kojo Ansah
