In a significant ruling, the Kumasi Magistrate Court in the Ashanti Region has nullified over 1,000 fraudulent voter transfers to the Manhyia South Constituency.
The court, presided over by Her Worship Deborah Gyaawa Donkor, delivered the verdict on Tuesday, September 24, 2024, ordering the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) to revert the affected voters to their original constituencies.
The transfers, allegedly orchestrated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were challenged by Lawyer Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Manhyia South.
Mr. Awuah, who recently won the NPP parliamentary primary in the constituency, uncovered the suspicious transfers and took immediate action by rallying polling station executives and local residents to object.
The objections were submitted through the completion of Objection Forms in accordance with Regulation 23 of CI 91, which highlighted that the transferred voters were non-residents of the constituency.
The court’s ruling deals a major blow to the NDC’s alleged efforts to increase their electoral chances in Manhyia South ahead of the 2024 elections.
Accoridng to the EC, this is part of the legal processes following the Exhibition of the provisional voters register. People are allowed to object to names of voters on the register for reasons such as not being resident or ordinarily resident in the electoral area where they have transferred their votes to. And this review process that takes place after the exhibition exercise by District Registration Review Officers (DRROs) has been ongoing in all districts, and the DRROs are often Magistrates (in accordance with the law, though the law provides for exceptions).
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