Supreme Court Orders EC to Suspend Nationwide Registration Exercise

The Supreme Court has ordered the Electoral Commission to suspend its intended nationwide registration process which is to begin tomorrow, July 25. 

The court has slated July 30, 2014 to give a substantive ruling on writs brought by three plaintiffs against the EC- writs which were later joined into one. 

The court also ordered the Commission to stop running adverts of its impending national voters
registration exercise. 

The three plaintiffs- Abu Ramadan of the PNC, Danso Acheampong and one other person were seeking to nullify an intended registration process. 

Abu Ramadan who did not understand why the EC must use the National Health Insurance Cards, as part of the registration process, sought the power of the court to declare that modality by the EC as illegal. 

He also sought for an interlocutory injunction to be placed on the entire registration process. 

The judges who sat on the case were unhappy with the EC who is the respondent, for running adverts about the registration at a time when an injunction had been filed. 

Justice Jones Dotse reprimanded the Commission and ordered it to withdraw the adverts. Lawyer for the EC, James Quarshie Idun, described the adverts as an oversight and gave the assurance that the advert would no longer be run. 

After hearing arguments for and against the writ, the judges agreed to give their final ruling on July 30 but ordered the EC to suspend the intended registration process until after the ruling.

GBC