Ghana's Voters’ Register Bloated By 10% - British Gov’t

The British Government has acknowledged that Ghana’s controversial voters’ register is bloated by at least 10 percent. According to a correspondence from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, a copy of which is available to DAILY GUIDE, the British Government was adequately informed about the trend in the country regarding the register. “We are fully aware of the concerns regarding the electoral register. We note that the average population percentage in Ghana of those eligible to vote is approximately 52%, which is 10% higher than continental average,” the letter from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, addressed to some concerned Ghanaians who had petitioned Prime Minister David Cameron, indicated. The correspondence, dated December 23, 2015 and signed by Vicki Morley, Desk Officer for Ghana, said the British High Commission in Accra was in regular contact with all political parties and civil society groups as well as the Electoral Commission.

 “We stand ready to assist the Electoral Commission in ensuring that concerns can be addressed,” the letter pointed out. The British Government’s position tallies with the report of the panel composed by the EC to look into the petition of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) over the alleged bloated register. The results of the analysis as captured on page 9 of the VCRAC Crabbe Panel report says, “There is some evidence that the register of voters possibly contains a substantial number of names of people whose records are currently not valid. By all indications, the number of registered voters is not only unusually high, but it may be in excess of the potential number.”