Repose confidence in EC - Commission responds to registration slip error

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said an error on a registration slip does not affect a voter's eligibility.

The EC, in a statement, was responding to a registration slip circulating on social media indicating that the bearer of the slip registered at Kasoa in the Central Region. The registration slip, however, gives the bearer's district as Ayawaso North in the Greater Accra Region.

But the EC said the error did not appear on the applicant's voter's Identification Card. “It reflects on the registration slip which only serves as a reference, should an applicant seek to replace his/her Voter ID Card.

“The error does not affect the eligibility of the voter,” a statement signed by the acting Director of Public Affairs of the EC, Michael Boadu, said. “We entreat citizens to remain steadfast and repose their confidence and trust in the Commission to deliver on its mandate,” the statement said.

Recall

The limited voter registration exercise started across the country last Tuesday with a target to register 623,000 eligible persons onto the electoral register. The 21-day exercise, which is meant for persons who have turned 18 and others who have not previously registered to vote, is expected to be carried out in 1,053 registration centres, made up of 268 district offices of the EC and 785 additional centres in hard-to-reach areas agreed on with political parties.

The exercise is expected to end on Monday, May 27, this year. However, the exercise took off after 12 noon last Tuesday following a system failure which thwarted the start of the exercise across the country.

Many of the registration centres, primarily limited to the district offices of the 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, uncertainty of the start of the registration process. 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’’.