Jean Mensa – EC Chairperson
Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has disclosed that the Commission has recorded a total of 182,831 registered voters in six days in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise.
Addressing the media in Accra yesterday, she said out of the figure, Western Region had recorded 11,644 registered voters (6.4%), Western North registered 6,491 (3.6%), and Central Region recorded 17,590 (9.6%).
Mrs. Mensa reported that the Greater Accra Region registered 27, 264 voters (14.9%), the Volta Region had 12,681 voters (6.9%), the Oti Region had 4,427 (2.4%), the Eastern Region had 19,327 (10.6%), and the Ashanti Region had 29,255 voters (16%).
According to her, the Bono Region recorded 6,580 (3.6%), the Ahafo Region recorded 4,519 (2.5%), the Bono East recorded 7,291 (4.0%), the Savannah Region recorded 4,655 (2.5%), the Northern Region recorded 12,982 (7.1%), the North East recorded 4,244 (2.3%), the Upper East recorded 8,639 (4.7%), and the Upper West recorded 5,241 (2.9%).
Smooth Exercise
The EC chair stated that the Commission’s goal was to register 700,000 voters by the end of the exercise, adding, “I am happy to note that, in spite of the few hiccups experienced in the first two days, the exercise is proceeding well to the glory of God.”
“As you may know, we experienced in the first two days, temporary breaks in the registration exercise due mainly to a number of issues, ranging from disruptions to our internet supply, power outages, and in a few instances, faulty kits.
“As a Commission, we quickly moved to resolve these issues to ensure an unhindered, smooth and seamless process,” she asserted.
Online Registration
Mrs. Mensa explained that a key policy established to guide the registration exercise was the use of the online method of registration, and pointed out that the system is connected directly to the database of the EC.
“As such right from the point of registration, it is possible to detect whether or not a person had previously registered. Once the applicant places his or her fingers on the finger-print scanner, the system is able to establish whether that person already exists in the database or not.
“One other advantage of the online method is that a person’s details are immediately captured in the database in the event where the applicant has not previously registered,” she noted and added, “This is different from the offline method.”
No Disenfranchise
The EC Chairperson refuted suggestions that the Commission was on a mission to disenfranchise eligible voters by restricting registration centres to district offices.
“We have heard of allegations from various quarters that the Commission is disenfranchising eligible voters. This is false. It is not in our interest, as a Commission, to disenfranchise any eligible voter,” she asserted.
She continued, “We take pride in the fact that we have the second highest number of registered voters in the whole of Africa, with the exception of Cape Verde, which has a national population of just about 600,000 and a voting population of 55.33%.”
The EC boss explained that when they realised there were problems in some areas in the initial stage, they went back to the drawing board to identify the centres involved.
“We immediately increased the number of registration stations from two to three, and in some cases, to four. Faulty kits were also swiftly replaced with spares that were available in the regions.
“For instance, in the Tamale Metro Office, we experienced issues with the kits sent there, resulting in the registration figure of four voters only on day one. We quickly stepped in and replaced the faulty kits and the registration is going on there seamlessly.
“Additionally, to deal with the long queues in the Tamale Metropolis, we have increased their registration stations from two to four, and I am happy to note that on Saturday they recorded a high of 269 registrations and 410 on Sunday,” she announced.
According to her, she decided to share these examples to demonstrate that members of the Commission are on the ground and working around the clock to ensure that every eligible voter who is desirous to register as a voter does so with ease.
By Ernest Kofi Adu