Voters’ exhibition exercise witnesses low patronage in Takoradi

The on-going voters’ exhibition exercise being undertaken by the Electoral Commission (EC) in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis, is witnessing low patronage by registrants, since it began last Friday, October 24.

Visits by Ghana News Agency to some polling centres in the Metropolis on Tuesday revealed low turn-out of registrants to check their particulars in the Register.

At Colombia Daycare polling station in Takoradi, 149 registrants had checked their particulars out of 1, 042 people who registered in the 2012 and 2014 registration exercises.

The Exhibition Officer at the polling centre, Mr. Joseph Hinson said one person came to notify him about a deceased relative, but did not bring any document to support the claim.

He, therefore, asked the person to bring documents such as burial certificate of the deceased, a funeral poster announcing the death of that relative or any other relevant document to establish the claim.

At Kawoanopado polling station in the Amanful East Electoral Area, 39 out of 365 registrants in 2012 and 2014 registration exercises had checked details of their particulars in the Voters’ Register since the exercise began.

Mr. James Darkoh, the Exhibition Officer, told the GNA that a registrant found a spelling mistake in the surname after checking.

Therefore it was corrected, and he was issued with a receipt which would be taken to the district EC office.

At Old Amiscu polling station in Takoradi, 46 out of 750 registrants in the two previous registrations had checked their names with three registrants identifying some mistakes in their names which were corrected by the exhibition officer and receipts issued to them.

GNA observed that there was only National Democratic Congress polling agents present at the centres visited however; the exhibition officers indicated that other party officials occasionally came around to find out how the exercise was being carried out.

The exhibition officers described the exercise as smooth, but boring, in view of the fact that registrants did not come regularly to check their particulars.

Some residents the GNA interviewed in the twin-city indicated that the EC did not carry out sufficient sensitization campaign to educate the electorate about the impending exhibition exercise hence the low patronage.

Others also attributed it to Ghanaian attitude of waiting till the eleventh hour before rushing to the polling centres to check their particulars.

Kofi Kyei, a resident, said he can’t leave his business and check his particulars in the Register, since that will not bring food to his table.

The week-long exercise would end on Thursday October 30 throughout the country.