Dr. Bossman Eric Asare
The Electoral Commission (EC) has registered 251,149 individuals in the ongoing limited voter registration exercise nationwide.
Deputy Chair of the EC, in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, who announced this at a press briefing yesterday in Accra, said the EC recorded some progress as Ashanti Region recorded 44,232, representing 17.6%, followed by the Greater Accra Region recording 33,899, representing 13.5% in six days of the exercise.
North East Region, 6,928, representing 2.8%; Upper East, 10,646, representing 4.2%; Northern, 19,491, representing 7.8%, Bono Region, 8,972, representing 3.6%; Bono East, 9,681, representing 3.9%; Volta, 12,190, representing 12.9%.
Others are Upper West, 8,474, representing 3.4%; Eastern, 25,625, representing 10.2%; Central, 27,984, representing 11.1%; Ahafo, 6,273, representing 2.5%.
Western North recorded 9,134, representing 3.6%; Oti, 7,259, representing 2.9%; Savannah, 5,251, representing 2.1%, while Western recorded 15,100, representing 6.0%.
He said the Commission has been doing an average of 45,000 new voters per day, with females constituting 135,898, representing 54.11% and males constituting 115, 251, representing 45.89%.
Touching on the forms of identification, he said the guarantor system dominated among the various forms of identification compared to the 2023 registration exercise.
Dr. Asare said the Commission was however not proud of such development with the guarantor system, as it is used by political parties and certain individuals to facilitate the registration of unqualified persons such as minors and foreigners.
He added that the Commission has no intention of favouring any particular regions, constituencies or zones in the registration exercise.
He said all the commentaries suggesting the Commission has sent faulty equipment to certain parts of the country or frustrating the registration exercise in some regions or constituencies, are false and “championed by persons who are completely ignorant of the processes of the Electoral Commission or are by persons who deliberately want to undermine the reputation of the EC.”
The EC also urged all those who registered either in the 2020 Mass Registration Exercise or the 2023 Limited Registration Exercise not to make any attempt to register again as voters, as such persons will not be able to vote in the December elections.
The EC Deputy Chair further advised the national leadership of the political parties to discourage their executives in the regions and the constituencies from transporting minors and foreigners to the registration centres.
He also assured all Ghanaians that the Commission is committed to ensuring that all qualified persons get onto the voters’ register and vote in the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
By Ebenezer Amponsah