Pilot voter registration exercise successful in Accra - EC official
The pilot voter registration exercise by the Electoral Commission (EC) has been successful in the Greater Accra Region, according to the EC's Regional Director.
The two-day exercise organised across the country was to test-run new Biometric Voter Registration (BVR) kits, assess Covid-19 protocols put in place, among things, in readiness for the main voter registration exercise to take place later this month.
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The Greater Accra Director of EC, Mr. Kwame Amoah in an interview with Graphic Online, said the objective of the exercise was achieved in the Greater Accra Region, which ran the mock exercise at Sapeiman, in the Ga East district.
According to him, the aim of the exercise was to test the strength of the new equipment acquired by the EC and to test the readiness of the Commission's officials.
"We want to demonstrate the strength of the equipment, the readiness of the kits we are using and also to test the readiness of the officials we have trained", he said, explaining further that "We want to put pressure on the machine as best as possible to see if it can withstand the pressure we are going to experience on the field."
These he said, were achieved.
Attendance He said although they had registered 40 people as at the time of visit at 1pm Wednesday, June 3, 2020, they were expecting to register no less than 90 by close of day.
He said they were able to register only 50 people on the first day of the exercise - Tuesday 2, 2020.
He attributed the relatively low number to a problem with the thumb scanner machine which he said, was not able to pick some registrant's finger print. "Actually it had to do with the scan. The thumb print scanner yesterday was very slow but what we noticed was that if you sanitize it and you don't wait for it to dry, it takes time before it picks the next person's finger print."
He said the problem was however resolved later in the day, "But this time around, once you have been sanitized with wipe, we also use a tissue to clean it, so that it will pick very fast. When we applied the strategy today, it is moving very well".
He also debunked an allegation that the EC was using old equipment for the exercise, adding that they were using more advanced machines.
He added that the equipment was also used without light on Wednesday to test its efficacy on occasions when there would be no power supply.
"This one, everything is intact, we don't pick any component out. The first one there was a platform within the case, you lift it before you assemble the components but this one everything is intact. You can use it for hours without electricity", he stated.
The EC Director further assured that the Greater Accra region was well prepared to carry out the mass voters registration exercise.
Observation
Speaking to some of the registrants, they said they were satisfied with the process including the EC's adherence to the COVID-19 preventive measures.
Others also complained about delays in the process.
Mr Samuel Gyamah Dankwah told Graphic Online; 'It is cool, I am so happy... I was telling the officials that the machine used for the data collection is slow so assuming the D-day you see a lot of people rushing to register .... those taking the data should be fast. They should be two or three because that day you will not see small few) (people here."
Giving reasons for the delay, Mr Amoah explained that it takes 20 minutes for a person to go through the registration process, adding that it takes an hour to register three people.
"I don't think the process takes too long, just that on the average, it may take about 15 to 20 minutes for one person to go through. But it does not mean that one person will finish before another person starts, it moves in stages so with that 20 minutes you can cater for four people".
Speaking to Graphic Online, the Greater Accra regional organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Prince Obeng said the exercise had been smooth without any incident.
He called on members of the party to go out in their numbers to register during the mass registration exercise.
Although the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was absent as at the time of visit, Graphic Online was told a party rep was present on Monday.
Registrants were directed to wash their hands under running water while hand sanitizers were available for registrants to sanitize their hands, after which their temperatures were taken before being allowed to start filling the Form 1A that captures one's personal details.
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