EC to Work with Birth and Death Registry to Expunge Ghost Names from Voters’ Register | Elections

The Electoral Commission has revealed that it is making an attempt to liaise with the birth and death registry to collect data in an attempt to expunge ghost names which continue to occupy space in the voters’ register.

The revelation made by the Electoral Commission is in reaction to the National Democratic Congress’ call for forensic audit into the voters register due to some discrepancies detected during the voter exhibition exercise. The NDC noted that, there were several ghost names captured in the register, hence the call for forensic audit.

The Electoral Commission, however, stated that steps have been taken to reach out to the birth and death registry to provide data on the number of persons who have died.

“We have also noted comments from the NDC alluding to ghost names in the register. We are aware that there may be dead persons on the register because several persons die each year”.

The EC alluded to the importance of flashing out the names of persons who have died over the years by contacting the relatives as well as the department of birth and death under the ministry of local governement.

“One of the key purposes of the Exhibition Exercise is to allow relatives of the dead to initiate the process of expunging their names from the register.”

The EC stated that, although the NDC makes claims of the capturing of names of some dead persons in the register, the party is yet to provide data to support their claims.

“The NDC indicated at the meeting that it had identified some 50,000 persons who were dead on the Register.”

The Commission once again requested the details of the 50,000 dead persons and assured the NDC that it would work with the District Assembly and Birth and Death Registry to expunge the names from the Register.

“As with the data on the discrepancies identified by the NDC, we are yet to receive the list of the dead,” the EC pointed out.