Exhibition of voters' register scheduled for October 25

The Electoral Commission has set Thursday, October 25, 2018, as the commencement date for the Exhibition of the Voters Register prior to the referendum on the creation of six extra regions in Ghana.

The exhibition of the voters' register is in line with the Public Elections Regulations 2016 C.I 91, which instructs the Electoral Commission to display the provisional register of voters of each polling station for public inspection.

Addressing the media at a press confab in Accra, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa stated that “the exhibition will take place in only the 47 Districts in the four proposed regions to be created”, with “all polling stations within the carved areas for the referendum will be designated as exhibition centres for the exhibition”.

She added that both the 2016 and provisional voters register will be placed at the various exhibition centres for prospective voters to verify their personal data and effect the needed changes.

“Both the 2018 Provisional Voters Register and the 2016 Voters would be placed at the Exhibition Centres for prospective voters to verify their details as captured and make requests for amendments or insertions where necessary,” Madam Jean Mensa told the media.

According to the Electoral Commissioner, the exhibition of the register would provide the opportunity for Ghanaians to safeguard the credibility of the voters’ register, which mostly generates controversy before, during and after elections in the country.

The Electoral Commission is mandated by law to hold the referendum to determine whether the voters in the regions to be created support the creation of the new region or not.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has proposed the creation of six new regions bringing the total number of administrative regions to 16, a number some critics say will be a drain on the country’s meagre resources.

This proposal was met with mixed reactions, with some residents of the selected regions demonstrating against the move and others expressing their approval.