The Electoral Commission has denied claims by the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi of a collaborative effort between it and the New Patriotic Party to insert the name of an unqualified NPP parliamentary candidate into the Assin North voters’ register.
A statement issued by the electoral body categorically denied the claims.
It stated that it has not received any such request from the NPP to transfer any person’s vote.
The EC explained that Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution states that a person does not need to be a registered voter in a specific constituency to be eligible to contest an election there. Simply being a Ghanaian, 21 years or older, of sound mind, and a registered voter is sufficient.
However, if a person wishes to contest in a constituency where they do not hail from, they must be ordinarily resident there or have resided there for at least five years out of the previous ten years.
The Electoral Commission maintained that the allegations are baseless and aimed at maligning the integrity of the EC.
It noted that being a registered voter in a constituency is not a prerequisite for contesting elections there.
The Electoral Commission’s attention has been drawn to a misleading press statement attributed to the National Communications Officer of the NDC alleging collaboration between the NPP and the EC for the purpose of transferring the vote of one Charles Opoku to the Assin North Constituency to enable him to contest the upcoming by-election in the said constituency.
We wish to state that this is not true.
For the records, the EC has not received any such request from the NPP to transfer the votes of any person. This allegation is false and a figment of the author’s imagination. As usual, it is aimed at maligning the integrity of the Electoral Commission.”
