Exhibition exercise experiences low turnout

The voters’ exhibition exercise is experiencing low turnout at the exhibition centres due to certain factors including the electronic checker option.

The Daily Graphic, during a visit to some exhibition centres in Accra yesterday, observed that the officials of the Electoral Commission (EC) manning the centres were free and virtually doing nothing due to the low influx of registered voters to check their details.

While some prospective voters said it was early days and they would eventually go to the centres before the exercise ends on August 27, many others said they would rather take advantage of the EC’s electronic checker system.

As part of the exhibition exercise, prospective voters can verify their details electronically via short code *711*51# at the cost of 50 pesewas.

“I have to go to work and I cannot sacrifice my time to go to the centre, I would rather utilise the electronic checker option which is convenient and less stressful,” Fred Osei Agyemang, a registered voter in Ayawaso Central Constituency said.

Visit

The exhibition centres the Daily Graphic visited included Roxy Cinema and the Additorum School in the Korle Klottey Constituency, the Kaneshie 1& 2 Primary School, Anglican JHS Centre, Mount Arrarat, Mother Care and SDA in the OkaiKwei South Constituency.

At the time of the visit, the highest number of prospective voters at a centre that had verified their details was 61, while the lowest was two.

The centres, which were fully manned by EC officials, also had the full complement of security officers, but those officers also had virtually nothing to do due to the low patronage

Factors

An EC official at the Additrom School exhibition centre, Rita Adjetey, said she was not surprised by the low turnout as that had been the norm during previous election cycles.

“People are more interested in the registration exercise than the exhibition exercise. Once their names are captured in the register, they don’t see the need to verify their details.

We, however, encourage the general public to take advantage of this important exercise as it is crucial in the electoral process,” she said.

Another official at the Kaneshie 1 & 4 Primary Centre, Felicia Obeng Ansong, said the low turnout could also be a result of the fact that the exercise just commenced and people were waiting for the closing stages to verify their details.

“Some people have also relocated from their original constituencies and, therefore, they feel reluctant to travel to check their details. Fortunately, the electronic system is also available, so they can take advantage of that,” she said.

Exhibition exercise

The exhibition exercise, which was commenced by the EC last Monday, August 19 and is expected to end next Tuesday, August 27, will enable prospective voters to verify their details in the register for the December 7 general election.

The week-long exercise, scheduled to take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily, including Saturday and Sunday, involves all registered voters.

“The purpose of the exhibition exercise is to allow for prospective voters to verify their voter details such as name, sex, age, among others, as captured during the registration exercise and make requests for amendments or insertions where necessary,” a Deputy Chairperson of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr Samuel Tettey, told the Daily Graphic in an interview.

Context

The EC had originally fixed August 1 to 7, 2024, for the exhibition exercise, but rescheduled it due to the mop-up limited registration exercise, which took place from August 1 to August 3, 2024.

Earlier, the EC had conducted a limited voters’ registration exercise from May 7 to May 27, 2024, and extended it by two additional days to make up for the network challenges experienced during the first two days of the registration exercise.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh