The Electoral Commission (EC) said on Thursday that it was on track to meet its target for limited voter registration. The Commission is seeking to register some 700,000 on its electoral roll.
Last week, the EC indicated that it had reviewed its proposed target to register 1,350,000 persons within the 21-day exercise and revised the target to around 700,000, representing 52 percent.
Addressing a press conference in Accra to give an update on the exercise, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman in Charge of Corporate Services at the EC, said the Commission was on track to meeting its 52 percent revised target.
He said that after 16 days of the registration exercise, the Commission had registered 673,276 new voters.
Dr. Asare stated that the Ashanti Region had the highest figure of 111,593, representing 16.6 percent, while the Savannah Region had the lowest count of 16,045, representing 2.4 percent.
Other regional figures are: Western: 42,269 (6.3 percent); Western North: 22,386 (3.3 percent); Central: 63,228 (9.4 percent); Greater Accra: 90,099 (13.4 percent); Volta: 43,099 (6.4 percent); Oti: 18,468 (2.7 percent); Eastern: 69,597 (10.3 percent); and Bono: 23,365 (3.5 percent). The rest are: Ahafo 17,210 (2.6 percent); Bono East 28,687 (4.3 percent); Northern 52,410 (7.8 percent); North East 17,692 (2.6 percent); Upper East 33,778 (5 percent); and Upper West 23,350 (3.5 percent).
Dr. Asare stressed the Commission’s commitment to registering all eligible Ghanaians, stating that it increased the number of stations within its district offices to accommodate the large crowds at the centers and speed up the process.
He said that the Commission would conduct a continuous registration exercise across all its district offices in 2024 to allow people who were unable to register this year to do so.
“We will roll out another round of limited continuous registration in 2024 in our district offices and register people in the difficult-to-reach communities and selected electoral areas. “We reiterate that it is not our intention to disenfranchise anyone,” he said.
Dr. Asare disclosed that the commission had set October 3, 2023, for the replacement of misplaced voter ID cards at a fee of GH¢10 across its district offices and those who want to transfer their votes to other districts will be able to do so from October 3 to 9, 2023, at all EC district offices.
“The payment is through a short code that will be made available to the public very, very soon,” he said, adding that this was to make it easier for the public.
Dr. Asare assured that the EC would continue to tighten its systems to prevent ineligible voters, such as minors and foreigners, from getting registered to vote.
“As a commission, we are focused on ensuring and maintaining the credibility of the voters’ register. This is the reason behind the proposed new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.), which will define the Ghana Card as the sole means of identification for new applicants to register as voters,” he said.
STORY: Parlos Jenkins.
