System failure delays voter registration

The limited voter registration exercise took off after 12 noon yesterday following a system failure thwarted the start of the exercise across the country.

Many of the registration centres, primarily limited to the district offices of the Electoral Commission (EC), recorded minimal figures as many prospective registrants had left by the time the registration system was fixed.

Before then, scenes of chaos and frustration had characterised the registration centres over the malfunctioning system, which prompted a high-level technical meeting of the EC to resolve the issue.

Across the country, prospective registrants had been left frustrated for hours as they hung around in uncertainty for the start of the registration process. The situation, said to have been caused by technical glitches, led to prospective registrants leaving the various centres in Accra without going through the process, report Joshua Bediako Koomson and Rhoda Amponsah.

During a monitoring exercise, it was observed that as of 6 a.m., most of the registration centres at Ayawaso West Wuogon, Korle Klottey and Ayawaso Central were fully packed, with applicants waiting to partake in the exercise.

However, as of 10 a.m., not even a single applicant had been registered, a situation which led to chaos, particularly between the party agents and the EC officials.

Some of the party officials accused the EC of a deliberate attempt to prevent them from registering, while others said the EC failed to do due diligence as tempers flared at some point.

At the EC’s headquarters, which hosted five registration centres, the agitation was intense, requiring the intervention of some party officials to calm the tension.

EC statement

Later, the EC issued a statement attributing the situation to “technical challenges with internet connectivity in a number of our centres”. It said the challenge was eventually resolved, and that “the registration exercise is proceeding smoothly in almost all the registration centres nationwide.

Frustration

The Director of Elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ayawaso West Wuogon Constituency, Ameyaw Amos Gokah, said: “Some people arrived at the centre around 3 a.m. to finish the process early and go to work, but to their surprise, as of 10 a.m, not even a single card has been issued. Some have even left out of frustration, and we don’t know if they are ever going to come back to register”.

Mr Gokah said he had even suggested to the EC to resort to offline registration, but the officials insisted on the online process. “They can do the registration offline and later upload it into the system.

 This is a simple method, but I don’t know why the EC is still bent on using the online process in spite of the challenges,” Mr Gokah said. An applicant, Victor Adbullai, said he arrived at the EC office around 3 a.m and met only five people who had preceded him.

“I was thinking that latest by 9 a.m. I will leave this place and go to work, but here we are. It’s almost 11 a.m., and nobody has come to explain to us what is happening. I have to leave and go to work and I don’t know if I will come back for this exercise,” he said.

The Municipal Electoral Officer for Korle Klottey, Linda Esi Abban, said the machines stopped working around 7 a.m.

Sunyani

Biiya Mukusah Ali reports from Sunyani that enthusiastic applicants, who started trooping to the Sunyani Municipal EC office as early as 6:30 a.m. hoping to register were left stranded and frustrated on the first day of the limited registration exercise.

This was because the municipal office of the EC was yet to receive its activation code from the head office in Accra to enable it to commence the registration process. The Deputy Supervisor at the Sunyani Municipal EC office, Emmanuel Gyabaah, told the Daily Graphic that the office needed an activation code to access the registration interface to enable it to register applicants.

He explained that without the activation code, the centre would not be able to process and issue voter ID cards. As of 1:00 p.m., the centre had not been able to register a single applicant.

Some of the frustrated applicants told the Daily Graphic that they left their homes very early, hoping to be registered.  Others said they had travelled from far places to the centre, and appealed to the EC to immediately resolve challenges associated with the registration process to enable them to register.

Mr Gyabaah said the office had projected to register about 2,500 people by the close of the exercise on Monday, May 27, 2024.

Bolga

Gilbert Mawuli Agbey reports from Bolgatanga that the registration exercise did not start on time for the same reason. On the premises of the municipal office of the EC, scores of prospective registrants were spotted in groups waiting to go through the registration process.

Aside from the municipal EC office, three other registration centres had been created at the Bolgatanga Technical University (BTU), Aguribisi Market square and Agontua to give opportunity to prospective registrants to register.

The acting Bolgatanga Municipal Electoral Officer, Ivy Akuta, said the process was delayed due to a technical challenge which arose as a result of the activation of the code of the registration device.

A prospective registrant, Selina Awagle, expressed worry over the delay in the start of the exercise. Another youth, Roland Amoah, stated that he was happy to become a registered voter in order to fully exercise his franchise in the upcoming elections.

Koforidua

From Koforidua, Haruna Yussif Wunpini reports that the start of the exercise in the New Juaben South Municipality was hampered by internet connectivity challenges. As of 10 a.m., no single person had been registered out of a large number of prospective registrants who had lined up for the exercise.

However, as of 12 noon, 20 prospective voters had been registered. The Municipal Director of the EC, Kofi Asante Owusu, told the Daily Graphic that the issue had been communicated to the headquarters.

In New Juaben South, there were three centres for the registration exercise. At the New Juaben South Municipal Electoral Commission Office, a registration officer, Alimatu Mohammed, told the Daily Graphic that as of 12 noon, only 20 applicants had been registered.