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Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, Head of the Training Department of the Electoral Commission, has clarified that the GH₵0.50 cost for verifying voter registration data online is paid to the service providers rather than the EC.
He claims that no money is collected for the Electoral Commission, and the cost has remained at 50 pesewas for the elections of 2020 and 2016.
Concerns over this price have been voiced by Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, the Member of Parliament for South Dayi.
Voters may now confirm their registration information ahead of the general election in 2024 by using the short code *71151#, which was created by the EC. Still, Mr. Dafeamekpor takes issue with this service’s price.
Dr. Quaicoe stated during an appearance on JoyNews AM that “It is for service charges, and not for the Electoral Commission. If the money were to come to the Electoral Commission, then that is our money for us to account for but is for the service charges. If you use MTN, the money goes to MTN; if you use Telecel, it goes to Telecel.”
He pointed out that the GH₵0.50 cost for online voter registration checks is not included in the budget for the Electoral Commission, saying that if it were, money would flow directly to the commission.
According to Dr. Quaicoe, the service provider is in charge of providing online verification for voters who are unable to visit a polling place, while the EC is in charge of making sure voters can verify their names at voting centers.
“So, if you cannot go, then you are using the service provider’s facilities to check, and that is the charge you pay for using their services.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
