The leadership of the NDC ordered all its regional offices to protest after raising concerns over alleged discrepancies in the 2024 voter register.
NDC raised concerns when it was furnished with the provisional voters register, stating there were a lot of discrepancies, including bloating of the electoral role in some of the polling stations, which it said formed parts of the EC’s attempts to rig the December 7 polls to favour the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Chairman of the party, Johnson Asiedu Nketia therefore called for a nationwide protest during a campaign rally.
The party is also calling for a forensic audit of the register, which it said will enhance the credibility of the upcoming general elections.
The Ghana Police Service also reassured the public that the police were fully equipped to provide security throughout the demonstration during a press conference on Monday, September 16.
NDC's issue with the 2024 voters register
The party claims that serious discrepancies exist between the 2024 Provisional Voter Register provided to them and the one employed by EC officials during the recent Voter Register Exhibition exercise.
Key figures within the NDC, including the party’s flagbearer and former President John Dramani Mahama, have pointed to numerous issues within the voter register. These issues reportedly include the inclusion of deceased persons, instances of multiple registrations, illegal voter transfers, and unnotified changes in polling stations, among others.
In an interview with Metro TV on Wednesday, 28 August 2024, Dr Omane Boamah, the NDC's Director of Elections and ICT, voiced his astonishment at the number of anomalies discovered in the 2024 Provisional Voter Register. Dr Boamah highlighted that the register provided to the NDC differs significantly from the one used for the exhibition exercise.
Among the most alarming findings, Dr Boamah claimed that the NDC identified 50,000 deceased individuals still listed on the voter register. "Our study of the register since they gave it to us has identified 50,000 dead people on it. We are still taking out the dead people," he stated.
He also raised concerns about illegal voter transfers, citing the example of the constituency of the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, where nearly 2,000 voters were allegedly transferred out of the constituency without their knowledge, while a similar number of voters were transferred in.