251,149 New voters registered
The Electoral Commission (EC) has so far registered 251,149 new eligible voters six days into the 21-day limited voter registration exercise across the country, the Deputy Chairman of the Commission in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Asare, has disclosed.
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Dr Asare said the figure meant that the commission registered an average of 45,000 applicants per day. Of the total applicants registered, he said females alone constituted 135,898, representing 54.11 per cent, while males were 115,251, representing 45.89 per cent.
Regional breakdown
Giving an update on the limited registration exercise in Accra yesterday, Dr Asare said at the end of the sixth day of the exercise, 33,899 applicants were registered in the Greater Accra, representing 13.5 per cent; 6,928 in the North East Region, representing 2.8 per cent, and 10,646 in the Upper East Region, representing 4.2 per cent.
The Northern Region had 19,491 applicants registering, constituting 7.8 per cent; 8,972 (3.6 per cent) in the Bono Region; 9,681 (3.9 per cent) in the Bono East Region; 12,190 (4.9 per cent) in the Volta Region, and 8,474 (3.4 per cent) in the Upper West Region.
The rest were 25,625 (10.2 per cent) in the Eastern Region; 27,984 (11.1 per cent) in the Central Region; 6,273 (2.5 per cent) in the Ahafo Region; 44,232 (17.6 per cent) in the Ashanti Region; 9,134 (3.6 per cent) in the Western North Region; 7,259 (2.9 per cent) in the Oti Region; 5,261 (2.1 per cent) in the Savannah Region, and 15,100 (6.0 per cent) in the Western Region.
The exercise, which started on May 7 and will end on May 27, 2024, is being conducted across all 268 district offices of the EC nationwide.
First-time voters.
On first-time voters, the Deputy EC Chairperson said those between the ages of 18 and 21 constituted the majority of registered voters in all the 16 regions. Nationally, they numbered 221,066, representing 88.02 per cent of the total number of registered voters so far.
In respect of persons with disabilities, Dr Asare said 400 persons had so far been registered at the end of the day. He said Greater Accra Region registered 33, North East had 13, Upper East had 19, Northern had 25, Bono had 108, Bono East had 13, Volta had 14, Upper West had 11, Eastern had 20, Central had 37, Ahafo had four, Ashanti had 27, Western North had nine, Oti had 20, Savannah had six, while Western had 21.
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Forms of identification
Dr Asare pointed out that the guarantor system continued to dominate the forms of identification used in the ongoing exercise as in the 2023 exercise. “This is something the commission is not proud of because it is used by local parties and certain persons to facilitate the registration of unqualified persons such as minors and foreigners,” he said.
He explained that the current confusion at the registration centres across the country was attributable to the guarantor system. Giving the percentages of the forms of identification for the first five days of the registration exercise, he said the Ghana Card so far had been used by 98,926 applicants, constituting 39.39 per cent.
The passport had been used by 622 applicants, constituting 0.25 per cent, while the guarantor system had been used by 151,601 applicants, constituting 60.36 per cent.
Challenge case
The challenge cases for the first six days of the exercise appeared to be evenly distributed. In nominal terms, he said, the Greater Accra Region had the highest with 524 challenge cases, while the North East Region had the lowest with nine.
As a percentage of the total registered in each region, the Volta Region had the highest at 4.29 per cent and the North East had the lowest at 0.13 per cent. Highlighting the challenge cases in each region, Dr Asare said the Greater Accra had 524, North East had nine, Upper East had 37, Northern had 130, Bono had 43, Bono East had 126, Volta had 523, Upper West had 106, Eastern had 400, Central had 274, Ahafo had 117, Ashanti had 341, Western North had 53, Oti had 140, Savannah had 37, while Western had 75, giving the national total of 2,935, constituting 1.17 per cent of the total registered number of applicants.
Dr Asare said the commission had addressed the technical challenges that registrants encountered in the first two days of the exercise. He said measures had been put in place to ensure a smooth experience for registrants.
“We wish to use this opportunity to tell the political parties and guardians in general that the technical challenges we had have been resolved, and the commission believes anyone who wants to register as a voter should be able to do so in his or her district,” he said.
He added that the commission welcomed constructive criticisms from the political parties and civil society organisations, saying this would strengthen its work.