The Electoral Commission (EC) says it has been able to verify the status of over one million registered voters since the voter registration was exhibited last Monday.
A statement from the EC said the commission was hopeful of getting more people go through the exercise before the deadline on August 7. The exercise is to afford Ghanaian voters the opportunity to check their biometric details ahead of this year’s crucial elections.
“At the close of the 3rd day of the exercise, the total number
of voters verified was 1,003,812”, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, EC head of Public Affairs said in the statement.
The exercise is running concurrently with the re-registration of persons who used the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card as proof of Ghanaian citizenship to register and have had their names deleted. The deletion followed a ruling of the Supreme Court in a case brought by a former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Abu Ramadan and Evans Nimako, challenging the credibility of the electoral roll.
The EC has appealed to Ghanaians to help its officials as the two exercises progress. It also hopes that more people would go and verify their names as the days go by.
“Reports from all 29,000 centres across the country show that apart from the lower than expected response, the exercise is progressing smoothly,” the statement indicated.
The Electoral Commission said it had deployed adequate personnel and equipment to ensure that all registered voters go through the process without stress.
Barely three days into the exercise, some people have complained that the process to verify their details had been daunting, citing the absence of adequate biometric verification machines for use by EC officials.
According to them, if the challenges facing the on-going process are not resolved many people risk being disenfranchised.