NDC PETITION BEFORE SUPREME COURT CAN INVALIDATE EC’s REGISTRATION EXERCISE – KWESI PRATT

Seasoned journalist,Kwesi Pratt Jnr has said the decision by the National Democratic Party (NDC) to abandon one of the reliefs in their legal case at the Supreme Court regarding the EC’s mass registration exercise doesn’t mean the Commission can compile a new voters register.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has slated the registration exercise for Tuesday, June 30, 2020, despite oppositions.The exercise is scheduled to last for 38 days.

Prior to the announcement of the date of the registration exercise, the NDC rank and file had challenged the Commission’s constitutional mandate to hold the mass registration exercise and compile a new voters register, at the Supreme Court.

The party also seeks declaration on the constitutionality of the EC to exclude the voters ID card as part of the identification requirements for the exercise.

The NDC, however, dropped their case on whether or not the EC should conduct the exercise but their petition on the exclusion of the voters’ ID card still holds before the law court.

Some political critics believe the NDC’s decision to go for their relief on the voters ID card while they drop their case on the registration exercise supports the EC’s decision to compile a new voters’ register.

But Kwesi Pratt thinks differently as he told host Kwami Sefa Kayi on Peace FM’s ‘Kokrokoo’ that the NDC’s petition at the Supreme Court can invalidate the EC’s new voters registration exercise, albeit it is the Supreme Court ruling that will determine the outcome.

“If the Supreme Court rules that the old registration form is a valid document for entering onto a register, it means that you’re not compiling a new register. You’ll be reviewing the register,” he said.