The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Electoral Commission of attempting to insert the name of one of the NPP’s aspirants into the Assin North voters register ahead of the by-election.
According to the NDC, the aspirant Charles Opoku is not a registered voter in the Assin North Constituency, adding that the “illegal” move will help the aspirant contest in the NPP parliamentary primaries to select a candidate for the Assin North by-election.
This, they stated, is against the requirement that a candidate in an election must be a registered voter of the said constituency.
“It is instructive to note that according to Regulation 22 of the Public Elections Regulations 2020 (C.I 127), voter transfer can only be effected for an ordinary citizen not less than 42 days to a public election. More importantly, transfer applications can only be made to the Returning Officer of a public election,” parts of the statement read.
“Given the fact that we have less than 42 days to the by-election in Assin North, and a Returning Officer is yet to be appointed for same, any transfer of voters to Assin North will be unlawful and same shall be fiercely rejected by the NDC,” they added.
The party indicated that they will take every legitimate step to ensure that this “illegal plot” is not perpetrated by the Electoral Commission and the NPP.
This comes after the NPP announced, earlier in the week, that two people picked forms to contest in the party’s primary to select a parliamentary candidate for the Assin North by-election.
They are Frederick Amoah Kyei and Charles Opoku.
Speaking to JoyNews’ Samuel Mbura, the party’s Director of Elections, Evans Nimako said the party has put in place measures to fast-track the process since the election will take place in less than a month.
While vetting was expected to be done on Friday, June 2, the primary to select a candidate will be conducted on Wednesday, June 7.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has set Tuesday, June 27, 2023, as the date for a by-election in the Assin North constituency.
In a press statement, the EC indicated nomination forms will be available for download on its website from Thursday, June 1, advising interested persons to pick the forms when available.
“Accordingly, the Commission will receive Nominations from prospective Candidates for the Election of a Member of Parliament for the said Constituency. The Nominations will be received at the Assin North District Office of the Commission from Monday, the 12th of June, 2023 to Wednesday, the 14th of June, 2023 between the hours of 9:00 am – 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on each day,” parts of the statement read.
The EC noted that the filing fee for the election is GHȼ10,000 per candidate.
