Voters registration exercise: EC satisfied with progress on day one

At the end of the first day of the exercise to compile a new Voters Register, the Electoral Commission (EC) says its assessment shows that it has been generally successful.

Dr Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Electoral Services at the Commission, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that some of the registration centres exceeded the EC's target of an average of 100 eligible applicants per day.

For instance, the Islamic Primary School Registration Centre and Health Service One in Goaso issued 150 and 155 voters identity cards, respectively, to applicants.

At Yendi in the Northern Region, the Traditional Council Registration Centre issued - 125 cards; Old District Council - 127; Electoral Commission Two - 127; Ghana Revenue Authority One - 126, he said.

The 8000 new biometric kits deployed to the field worked to satisfaction, though there were a few technical hitches, technicians were deployed to deal with it.

“Many applicants showed up, queued earlier before the start time. Day one has been encouraging and we hope it will continue," he said.

" The Commission will make sure that every eligible Ghanaian who shows up will be registered.”

The downside of the exercise, he said, was the report that some applicants refused to observe the anti-COVID-19 measures.

The 38-day exercise, being held in clusters of five centers per district for six days, will eventually cover all the 33,367 in all the 16 regions.

The Electoral Commission aims at registering some 16 million eligible Ghanaians in the exercise, which starts daily at 0700 hours and ends at 1800 hours.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Medical Association has, in a statement, cautioned the Commission to ensure compliance with the safety measures.