Limited voter registration starts today - Exercise targets 630,000 persons
The limited voter registration exercise started across the country today, with a target to register 623,000 eligible persons onto the electoral register.
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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 Electoral Commission (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. The Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, who made this known at a press briefing in Accra yesterday, said the commission would register all eligible persons who would turn up at the centres to be registered, even if the number rose above the targeted 623,000 persons.
She explained that based on the 2021 Population and Housing Census which projected that 450,000 persons turned 18 every year, the commission estimated that 1.8 million persons needed to be registered from 2021 till date.
"But when we did limited registration in 2020, we targeted 700,000 persons and ended up registering 910,000 people. This means that we have 890,000 persons left”. "In the current registration exercise, we are targeting 70 per cent of the remaining 890,000 persons, but if all of them turn up to be registered, the EC will register them,” Mrs Mensa explained.
With regard to the time for registration, she said the centres would be opened from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day, including Saturdays and Sundays, to ensure that all qualified persons who were willing to register got the opportunity to do so.
Watertight measures
The EC chairperson said based on the rigorous processes the commission had put in place for the recruitment of personnel, deployment of logistics and security arrangements, she was confident that the registration exercise would be successful.
For instance, she said, the EC had gone through a transparent process to recruit returning officers and deputy returning officers who would support the registration exercise and the conduct of the December 7, 2024 polls.
"All of these returning officers and deputies have previously worked with the commission for at least eight years, so we can be assured of the experience to perform their roles," Mrs Mensa said.
She denied allegations that the EC had received a list of persons to be engaged as returning officers from the metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives (MMDCEs). "Any party which has issues with any of the returning officers or deputy returning officers can object to their appointment. When that is done, a committee will look into the merit of it based on evidence available to take action," Mrs Mensa added.
Security
Touching on security, the Chairperson said the EC had engaged the National Election Taskforce led by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, to provide top-notch security during the registration exercise.
She said the EC had discussed the issue of minors with the police to help tackle the menace. "We are saying that bringing a minor to register is a crime that will not be entertained. Political parties and other persons should avoid it," Mrs Mensa stressed.
Power outages
As a proactive measure to ensure that the power outages did not affect the registration process, the EC chairperson said the commission had made provision for all district offices to acquire generators as standby power installations.
Again, Mrs Mensa said in the event of any power failure, the eligible persons could also be registered using the offline method where the details of the registrant would be uploaded onto a pen drive and updated when there was power.
Clean register
The EC boss gave an assurance that the commission would do all things within the law to get a clean voters register to help deliver a credible poll. "Voters register is the bedrock of a credible election; without a credible register, there can be no credible elections," Mrs Mensa reiterated.