VZCZCXRO3218
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAR #1317/01 2841143
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101143Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY ACCRA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7097
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CDR USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 001317 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR AF/W, INR/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF PREL KDEM GH
SUBJECT: CLEANSING THE VOTER REGISTER -- STRONGER SOAP 
NEEDED 
 
REF: ACCRA 1169 
 
 ¶1. (U) SUMMARY.   More than 2,000 polling stations 
throughout Ghana opened on October 5 to give parties and 
citizens the opportunity to challenge the eligibility of 
registrants.  As the week set aside for this process draws to 
a close, the response has been totally underwhelming.  For 
all of the expressed concern about bloated voter rolls and 
the importance of removing ineligible voters to assure the 
integrity of the December 7 election, the electorate and 
parties have reacted to this exercise with a collective yawn. 
 END SUMMARY. 
 
 
¶2. (U)  Ghana's voter registration exercise ended August 13 
with charges and countercharges that Ghana's two major 
parties had inflated voter rolls by registering minors and 
foreigners and double-registering eligible voters in their 
respective strongholds.  The Electoral Commission (EC) 
admitted that the registration process had been flawed, with 
a credibility-defying 290% increase in new registrants 
compared to a similar exercise in 2006.  The EC pledged to 
correct inconsistencies by opening the voter registers at 
each polling station October 5-11 to allow citizens 
themselves to examine registers at the most local levels and 
challenge any voter they deemed to be ineligible. 
 
¶3. (U)  Embassy Poloff and USAID Democracy and Governance 
Officer visited approximately 20 polling stations in Greater 
Accra on Sunday afternoon, the first day of the exhibition, 
and then revisited several of those stations on Wednesday 
afternoon.  Casual workers, mostly in their 20s, manned the 
stations, which generally consisted of a small table under a 
tree in a school yard.  Most had received 3 days of training 
from the EC.  All had the requisite materials: a registration 
booklet with name, age, photo, and voter ID number for voters 
at their polling stations, along with forms for those without 
a voter ID card and forms for challenging the eligibility of 
registrants. 
 
¶4. (U)  All poll workers reported very low turnout, about 
10-15%.  Almost all voters showed up only to check that their 
names were on the register.  Emboffs observed several 
instances where voters were told that they were not on the 
register and likely had come to the wrong polling station. 
Other than two instances where voters pointed out that a 
relative was no longer living, not a single challenge had 
been leveled.  POL Section's LES Political Specialist 
traveled to the contested Volta Region during the exhibition, 
and reported even lower turnout.  Media reports and other NGO 
election observers had the same findings.  The Carter 
Center's long term observers filed similar reports from the 
two swing regions, Central and Brong Ahafo. 
 
¶5. (U)  Party response to the low turnout has thus far been 
muted.  The EC has been equally silent.  Media reports on the 
low turnout have been steady, but low-key and laconic. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  COMMENT.  In light of their strong protestations 
of the need to cleanse voter rolls, the silence of the ruling 
New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National 
Democratic Congress (NDC) about the low turnout is hard to 
read.  Both parties profess to be certain of victory, and 
each party may be awaiting election results for the losing 
party to seize upon the bloated rolls as a reason to protest 
the election's validity.  The EC continues to hold that there 
will be no problem on election day despite their earlier 
claim that the exhibition period would be vital for 
authenticating legitimate voters. 
 
¶7. (SBU) The bloated register does not necessarily indicate 
widespread fraud.  Many Ghanaians use their voter card as 
their primary means of identification in the absence of any 
other national identification card.  It is a widely held 
notion that some double registrations occur solely for the 
purpose of obtaining a second ID card.  The low turnout for 
the exhibition, however, presents a larger concern: on 
election day, those who did not verify their name and correct 
polling place will not find their names on the register and 
will be denied the right to vote.  This could lead to delays, 
arguments, longer queues, and accusations of incompetence and 
fraud on the part of the EC.  Failure of the police to solve 
problems or keep peace at the polling stations would likely 
redound upon the ruling NPP. END COMMENT 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ACCRA 00001317  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BROWN