A total of 7,374 complaints filed during 2008 voter registrations

Seven thousand, three hundred and seventy four complaints was filed during the 2008 voter registration exercise in the country.

Seventy per cent of the complaints were filed in the Brong Ahafo and the Ashanti Regions.

Despite the vigilance of stakeholders in the registration exercise, the voters register was bloated.

It was based on that fact that the Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG) and other Civil Society Organizations proposed the use of biometric voter registration in the country to check double registration.

Dr Emmanuel Akwetey, the Executive Director of IDEC, disclosed this at a training of trainers’ workshop in Accra on voter education and observation of biometric voter registration process.

He said through IDEG’s observation of the 2008 voter registration exercise, the institute was able to establish that, though the registration exercise did not go down well as expected, it had some positive features.

Dr Akwetey said, the country had reached a stage where voter education needed to go beyond educating the voter to register and vote properly but also to make the voter understand issues at stake and vote for politicians who would place the interest of the nation first.

He said the fundamental issues at stake was how to get the next generation of politicians to be more interested in the moral good of society and how to offer good leadership.

Mr Kwesi Jonah, a Research Fellow of IDEG, said IDEG would be establishing five zonal situation rooms in the country to support their observers on the field to ensure peaceful registration and voting this year.

He explained that, the situation rooms would collect information that are likely to threaten the peaceful registration or the electioneering process, analyse the information and liaise with the media or the national task force at the local or national level to avert any threat to peace in the country during the registration or voting period.

Mr Jonah said one of the zonal situation rooms would be established in Tamale for the three Northern Regions, one in Kumasi for the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions, one in Takoradi for the Central and Western Regions and another one in Accra for the Eastern and Greater Accra Regions.

Mr Douglas Quartey, Programme officer of IDEG, said the institution would be observing the biometric registration exercise in 30 constituencies across the country.

He said IDEG observers would concentrate their efforts at selected flash points, areas of high population, constituencies with high settlement of foreigners and areas around the borders of the country.**