Turn up high at one-day registration exercise

Turn up at the one-day voter registration exercise was high in many district and municipal offices of the Electoral Commission (EC).

In the selected offices visited across the country yesterday, a lot of people had queued to get their names onto the register, while some had already registered and left the centres.

Some of the prospective registrants told the Daily Graphic that they had been in the queue as early as 5 a.m. ahead of the exercise.

However, a number of Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits at some centres issued applicants with identification (ID) numbers that had already been issued.

Corrected

In a statement, the EC explained that the error had been corrected.

It said the affected applicants would be contacted and issued with new ID cards with unique numbers.

“It is important to note that, the biometric and biographic details of the affected applicants are intact,” the statement added.

Ho

Mary Anane-Amponsah reports from the Ho Municipal EC office that 40 people had registered as of 10:30 a.m. when the Daily Graphic visited, with many others awaiting their turn in a queue.

The Ho Municipal Director of the EC, Nana Oduro Numapau, said the exercise had been smooth so far without challenges and expressed the hope that a lot of people who could not register during the mass registration exercise would be covered.

Measures were put in place to ensure strict compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.

However, information from Golokwati, the Afadjato South District capital, indicated that as of 10 a.m. the process had not started. Many of the people who went there to register had poured their frustration over the delay. Officials explained that they were waiting for a code from Accra to be able to start the process.

Cape Coast

From Cape Coast, Shirley Asiedu-Addo reports that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary aspirant for Cape Coast North, Dr Mintah-Nyarku, was again challenged at his attempt to register during the special voter registration exercise yesterday and therefore failed to go through the process.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency Youth Organiser, Mr Arkoh Korsah, challenged him saying he did not live at the address he gave and also had no right to register based on his earlier disqualification.

There was tension when supporters of Dr Mintah-Nyarku heard about the challenge and immediately amassed at the Metro office of the EC in Cape Coast chanting war songs. The police were called in to calm nerves.

The Metropolitan Electoral Officer, Mr Richard Asenso, explained that with the challenge the case would be in the hands of a standing committee.

Tamale

Samuel Duodu reports that the Tamale Metro office of the EC, which served as registration centre for Tamale South and Tamale Central constituencies, was overwhelmed by registrants as hundreds of registrants turned up for the voter registration exercise.

As of 3 p.m. when the Daily Graphic visited the centre, 64 persons had registered for Tamale Central, while 100 others had managed to get their names onto the register for the Tamale South.

Many people were still in the queue waiting for their turn to register.

Majority of the registrants were also not in the face masks, while the social distance protocol was also not being observed at the metro office.

EC

The Tamale Metro EC officer, Mr Bismark Nteh, told the Daily Graphic that they were overwhelmed by the number of people who had turned up for the exercise for the two constituencies.

He said the exercise was meant for those who had turned 18 years and those who could not register in the substantive exercise because they were held outside the country’s jurisdiction as part of restrictions imposed to control COVID-19.

Political parties

Agents of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were there to observe the exercise.

Some of them expressed fear that due to the high turn out, they could all not be registered by the end of the day.

Bolgatanga

From the Upper East Regional capital, Vincent Amenuveve reports that there was a long queue at the Municipal Office of the EC as registrants waited patiently for their turn to undergo the registration exercise.

As of 10:28 a.m., 28 people had gone through the exercise successfully. The exercise started at 7 a.m.

The Municipal Director of the EC, Mr Yaw Peprah, stated that if the exercise ended at 6 p.m. and there were still more people to be attended to, the EC would give them numbers to return the following day to get registered.

He, however, cautioned against those who would want to use the opportunity to do double registration, saying “if you come here to register again, the system will smoke you out".

Some of the registrants told the Daily Graphic that the process was smooth.

One of them, who gave his name only as Fatau, stated that he came for the registration at 1:45 p.m. and completed the registration process at 2:45 p.m.

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