Biometric Voter Registration kits are brand new - EC

The Electoral Commission on Thursday, July 16, 2020, said the Biometric Voter Registration kits currently in use are new and not old as being speculated.

A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the new Kits were completely different from the old kits in terms of look, appearance and functionality.

Comparing the two, it said the new ones were smaller than the old, with three handles while the old kit had one.

The new kits have an identification number and QR Code and cannot be removed from the case while the old version has no ID number and is removable.

The statement said the new kits could print daily number of registrants making data collection easy and had charging point in front with two led alert lights but the old one had none of those features.

“For the information of the public, all the Kits being used for the registration exercise are brand new. There is not a single old absolute Kit in the field,” the statement said.

It said as part of its procurement of a new Biometric Voter Management System it bought 8,500 Biometric Voter Registration Kits and all had been deployed onto the field.

It said it was untrue the assertion by some individuals that 40 per cent of the BVR Kits being used were old.

The Voters Registration Exercise, which began on June 30 and would end on August 6, is in the third phase and had registered more than 4.5 million applicants.

The registration is being held in over 3,000 centres and expected to register about 15 million eligible applicants.