According to Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution, a person does not need to be a registered voter in a certain constituency to be eligible to run for office there, according to the Electoral Commission.
However, if a person intends to run for office in a constituency from which they are not originally from, they must typically reside there or have lived there for at least five of the 10 years prior.
The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress, Sammy Gyamfi, claimed that the Electoral Commission (EC) had conspired with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) to transfer Charles Opoku's vote, and the EC has responded with this explanation.
Mr. Gyamfi claimed that this was done to provide the aforementioned Charles Opoku with the opportunity to run in the impending Assin North by-election.
The EC, however, claimed that Sammy Gyamfi's claim was false in a press release dated June 5, 2023.
Charles Opoku is not a registered voter in the Assin North Constituency, contrary to the clear requirement on the nomination form for the Assin North by-election, which demands that a candidate in the election must be a registered voter in Assin North, according to Mr. Gyamfi's allegations.
EC response and justification
The commission responded to the claim by stating: "For the record, the EC has not received any such request from the NPP to transfer the votes of any person. This claim is untrue and the product of the author's fantasy. As usual, it seeks to impugn the Electoral Commission's credibility.
A person does not have to be a registered voter in a certain constituency to be allowed to run for office there, according to Article 94 of the 1992 Constitution.However, in order to run for office in a constituency from which they are not originally from, a person must either normally dwell there or have lived there for at least five of the 10 years prior.
The commission continued by stating that the NDC has not established any one of the "single" claims it has made against the EC.
The EC further noted that the NDC's ongoing attacks on state institutions like the EC only serve to erode and damage the nation's democracy.
The panel vowed to maintain openness, equity, and honesty in all of its dealings. while urging Ghanaians to have faith in the EC to continue holding honest elections.
NPP's response
In the meantime, the NPP has refuted claims that the party was involved in a scheme to forcibly add the name of an ineligible NPP Parliamentary candidate to the Assin North Register in a press release released on Monday, June 5, 2023.
The party claimed that it hadn't even had a primary to choose a candidate to run on its ticket before attempting to enter a name in the constituency register.
It is therefore unbelievable how the NDC was able to choose our parliamentary candidate in advance and how they can claim that we are conspiring with the EC to improperly add his name to the Assin North register.
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