Voter Registration Limited: Gentle takeoff in most centers up to now

General News of Monday, June 17, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-06-17

The restricted voter registration exercise ran smoothly on Monday in most designated centers in the country.

The beginning of the exercise comes after the Supreme Court has authorized the Electoral Commission to proceed with this exercise after the rejection of an injunction suit brought against the process.

Potential voters and others who have reached the age of 18 should use this opportunity to appear on the country's voter register before the referendum on the election of metropolises, municipalities and districts (MMDCE) in December 2019.

In Accra, the exercise began at the Commission's headquarters in Ridge at 7 am sharp. Many eligible candidates have registered to register as a two-district center – Osu Klottey and Ayawaso.

Some candidates who shared their experiences with Citi News expressed their satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise.

"Up to here, it's been good for me. We reported around 9am. I was fine, they asked me for the details that I provided, "said a registered member.

Another said, "Since I have been here, the situation is calm. Those who record us drive it in an orderly way. I heard about 8:30 and everything happened successfully. In addition, it is not a rigorous process. "

Abdul Rashid Natogomah, District Election Officer in Ayawaso, said that a number of people had been registered and provided with their voter ID card.

"The process has been smooth until now. We started the registrations around 7 o'clock. Until now, we have registered about 40 people and we are still counting. In general, everything went well and people wait for their turn to be recorded. "

Ashanti Region

Meanwhile, in the Ashanti region, there are reports of mbadive turnout on the first day of the exercise.

Candidates from constituencies in Kumasi met in their respective district offices to follow the process.

There was a strong police presence at the entrance of the Electoral Commission offices in the Ashanti region, while another team was patrolling the other centers.

"The process was very smooth. I did not have any confrontation with anyone. Until then, everything went well. The queue is moved moderately. Everything is fine. The registration agents have followed the process, "said a Citi News registrant.

Benjamin Bannor Bio, Regional Director of EC at Ashanti, told Citi News that the registrars were working to solve some of the problems in other centers.

"We have two programs being recorded: online and offline registration. We use the online system but when the network is down, we use the offline procedure. So, at any time, the recording is in progress with or without a network. So, because the network challenge persists, we decided to use the offline method. "

Hitches in northern Ghana

In some parts of the Northern Region, however, network problems have been reported in some registration centers.

Monday at 11 o'clock, no card had been issued at the Sagnarigu district center.

Hundreds of people who invaded the place to get their cards remained stuck.

"They say the network is not stable. Since I arrived, they still have to deal with network issues. As a result, no one was able to register at the time of my arrival, "said one frustrated person.

"I have to acquire this card, that's why I want to register, but they complain about network problems. We have other tasks to do at home and yet we are here without progress, "complained another person.

The registration exercise at the EC office of Tamale Metro has been interrupted for lack of consensus between the two main political parties, the NDC and the NPP, in order to allow manual registration as a result of network problems in the district center.

They say that their online registration is settled or that they have no registration.

By midday, only 10 of the more than 100 candidates who had registered at the Tamale Metro EC office to register, had successfully enrolled, leaving several others unattended.

The Democratic National Congress of Opposition had protested against the EC's decision to organize the exercise in the district offices of the commission as well as in some designated centers.

Dozens of people complain about delays in Wa Central

Dozens of people who showed up at the limited voter registration exercise in the municipality of Wa, in the Upper West West region, have expressed their anger and dissatisfaction with the slow exercise.

Some of the people who spoke to Citi News complained that they had been waiting at the registration center for several hours without the EC officials taking care of them.