<<Print>>

The Electoral Commission (EC) says any decision to extend the just-ended limited voters registration exercise will depend on the reports of its district electoral officers from the more than 6,000 registration centres across the country.

It said its assessment of the reports would give an indication whether a mop-up exercise was necessary or not.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Director of Administration of the EC, Mr Christian Owusu-Parry, said the commission believed it had registered nearly all the eligible voters.

The 10-day limited voters registration exercise by the EC, which started on April 28, 2016, ended last Sunday.
The exercise, which was expected to add about 1.2 million voters to the electoral roll, was primarily intended for Ghanaian citizens who have turned 18 and would-be first-time voters to register.

Extension proposal

Many people, including students and representatives of political parties, have called for the extension of the registration exercise to allow all eligible people to register.

Mr Owusu-Parry said the EC had gathered from media reports that some people had not registered and were calling for an extension of the registration exercise.

He said he could not state whether or not the commission would extend the exercise based on the media reports.

He said the EC expected reports from its district electoral officers within a couple of days, after which it would determine whether “it is necessary to do a mop-up exercise”.

“At this stage, I am unable to say whether or not the commission is going to extend the exercise,” he said.
Mr Owusu-Parry assured all eligible Ghanaians that the EC would give them the opportunity to register and cast their ballots.

Successful exercise

He said the exercise was “largely successful”, despite the challenges.

For instance, he said, the EC was able to go to all the 6,000 registration centres within the 10-day period.
“We believe that nearly all the people got the opportunity to register,” he said.

Challenges

Mr Owusu-Parry said there were instances of equipment breakdown at some registration centres but added that the EC had in place back-up equipment which ensured early replacement of breakdown equipment.

Besides, he said, there were pockets of violence that disrupted the exercise, saying, “We had to suspend the exercise until normalcy was restored.”

He said the EC lost registration kits and forms at some registration centres and indicated that the challenges did not affect the smooth conduct of the exercise.