John Dumelo, the Parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon, has appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to establish voter transfer centers in university campuses, citing the challenges students face in traveling to district offices to transfer their votes. With only ten days remaining for the voter transfer exercise to be completed, Dumelo’s appeal aims to ensure that students are not disenfranchised and can exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
According to Dumelo, students are facing significant challenges in traveling to the district office to transfer their votes. “Thousands of students from institutions such as UNIMAC, GIJ, UG-Legon, GIMPA, UPSA, and Knustford are eager to transfer their votes but are hindered by the location barrier,” he said.
Dumelo emphasized that students have various commitments such as lectures, internal assessments, examinations, assignments, and other academic obligations that make it difficult for them to travel to the EC’s office at Ridge. “Many of these students have registered in their home regions but are currently residing in Accra for their studies and will likely remain there on December 7,” he pointed out.
The candidate stressed that these students are likely to be disenfranchised if the EC does not take steps to make the voter transfer process more accessible. He suggested that setting up voter transfer machines in the universities for even a short period of four or five days would be immensely beneficial.
“I urge the Electoral Commission to consider this proposal to ensure a large turnout and smooth voting process for the students,” Dumelo said.
By setting up voter transfer centers in universities, the EC can ensure that students are not disenfranchised and can exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
