Voters’ Registration Exercise Likely to Commence in June, Despite Pandemic Concerns

Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) is likely to begin compilation of its new voters’ register towards the end of June, a highly placed source has revealed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra.

The registration exercise has been deemed pertinent for the December 7, Presidential and Parliamentary elections.

The EC has come under fire to shelve plans of compiling a new register, following the coronavirus outbreak in the country, which has forced the government to place a ban on public gatherings.

Critics, mostly from the opposition NDC have also said the exercise is unfeasible considering the little time left to the elections.

The EC however seems resolute in its plans to overhaul the Voter Management System, despite the continuous criticism.

 As part of the commission’s plans to ensure that the public adhere to safety protocols when the registration exercise begins, the EC has shared an educational poster on its social media handles.

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The poster outlined a five-step measure people had to observe, including; wearing of masks, checking of temperature, social distancing, hand washing, and use of hand sanitizers.

According to GNA’s source, the registration would be conducted on a cluster basis at 33,367-registration centres nationwide.

The registration envisaged to be completed between 30 and 40 days would be done in four phases.

The Commission is collaborating with health officials to ensure the safety of every registrant.

The source reiterated that the EC would put in place concrete measures by providing a conducive atmosphere at all registration centres to protect its stakeholders from the virus among others.

It will be recalled that EC in early January, announced their decision to compile a new voter’s register for the upcoming elections, claiming the current one was bloated without effective means of cleaning it.

It said as a result, the EC had to use manual verification where voter’s fingerprints could not be verified.

SOURCE: GNA