Voters Registration Exercise Faces Problems

The first day of a nationwide voters registration exercise took off to a slow start with many people who have turned voting age and wishing to register being unable to do so. Some of such disappointed potential voters in interviews with JOY FM expressed frustration at their inability to locate the electoral centers designated for the exercise.

Others complained about the long distances they had to travel from registration centers to designated points to collect their photo identity cards. The exercise is to enable voters who have attained the voting age of 18 to register.

The Electoral Commission has limited the revision exercise to five thousand electoral centers instead of twenty thousand polling stations nationwide due to budgetary constraints. Publicity for the exercise has been low with many people telling JOY FM that they were unaware it was in progress.

The NDC has called for a suspension of the exercise saying the reduction in the number of centers has the potential to disenfranchise many prospective voters. The Eastern Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Nana Adi Ankamah, has also led the region’s inter-party advisory committee –IPAC-to canvass for the postponement of the exercise.

The regional IPAC, which is the only body to have commented so far, says the exercise must be postponed or extended because of the Easter holidays, the short notice prior to the exercise and poor publicity. The Electoral commission however says it will neither suspend nor extend the dates for the exercise.

According to them, the problems are as a result of government’s inability to give the commission the required money for the exercise. Government also approved monies for the exercise just last week. Any suspension, the commission says will affect the district assembly elections scheduled for July.