<<Print>>The Electoral Commission (EC) has stated in categorical terms that it will not bow to pressure from any political party in the matter relating to sanctity of the voters' register.
Mrs Charlotte Osei said this at a press conference after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting with the various political parties to deliberate on calls for changes to be made to the current voters’ register.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) revealed at a press conference this week that about 76,000 foreigners are on the country's voter register. The party petitioned the EC to compile a new register because the one compiled in 2012 lacks integrity.
The governing National Democratic Congress dismissed the concerns raised and requests made by the NPP.
This necessitated an IPAC meeting Friday to deal with the issues. The EC has asked the various political parties to submit their concerns with the register by September 22, 2015.
It also gave all political parties a December 31, 2015 deadline to meet the requirements of the Political Party’s Act concerning the required number of offices each party must have.
She said “I will crack the whip on any party that fails to meet the requirement after this deadline".
In response to whether or not the EC will contact its Togolese counterparts to verify the NPP’s claims, Mrs Osei said the party would have to prove the authenticity of their document.
Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Kofi Portuphy, is also making a strong case for the rejection of calls for a review of the register.
He argues that the funding of the new voters’ register will be expensive and the country does not have money to do that.