General News of Monday, 7 May 2012

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EC needs time to compile register- Afari Gyan

The Electoral Commission says it needs more time to compile a final voters’ register. The Commission says it is processing information gathered from the just ended biometric registration exercise.

The EC Chairman, Dr Afari Gyan told Joy News’ Sammy Darko that the exercise, though met with some challenges, was hugely successful.

He said the challenges were not unexpected and were quickly resolved.

He also debunked claims that laminates for the exercise were not enough, explaining that over 15 million laminates were issued for the exercise expected to capture about 12 million people.

He would not comment on how many people were registered in the exercise. Joy News understands a little over 12 million people have been registered.

The Commissioners will be meeting Wednesday to analyse the information gathered in the field, Joy News has learnt.

Dr Afari Gyan said they will thrash out shortcomings in the register, warning that those who intentionally engaged in multiple registrations would be dealt with under the law.

He said the Commission will then issue a provisional register for exhibition to allow for potential voters to go back and cross-check their details and correct all anomalies, after which the EC will issue a final register. He resisted calls for time-lines for all the processes, insisting the EC needs a bit of time to complete.