Phases one and two voters registration: Bono Region records 177,396

The Electoral Commission (EC) registered 177,396 people in the first and second phases of the on-going national voters’ registration exercise in the Bono Region.

The first phase that ended on Sunday July 5, 2020 was 92,113 registrants and the second phase also ended on Sunday July 12, 2020 with 85,283 registrants, Mr. Frank Ohene Okraku, a Deputy Bono Regional Director of the EC disclosed in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.

He stated that the number of persons who supported their registration with the Ghana Card were 80,405, those with passport were 3,301 and 93,696 registered through guarantors.

Mr. Okraku said 1,519 persons with disabilities (PWDs) were registered, adding that 239 registrants were challenged and their cases would be determined by the EC if they would either be disqualified or voters’ registration cards issued to them.

He said by age categories, registrants of 18 years were 6,721 and 38,877 were 19 years, whilst 164,136 were those at 20 years and above.

Mr. Okraku added that 96,148 registrants were women and 81,248 were males.

There had been generally strict compliance with and observation of directives and safety protocols against the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the registration centres, Mr. Okraku said.

He advised registrants whose communities were yet to be covered to wait because the exercise would be brought to all those places for them to be registered.

Mr. Okraku said few incidents of conflicts occurred at some centres but were reported to the Police for investigations.

He said technically the Commission experienced challenges concerning faults developed by some few machines at some registration centres, but were rectified to enable the process to progress.

Chief inspector Augustine Kingsley Oppong, the Public Relations Officer for the Bono Regional Police Command, affirmed to the GNA that there was no major incident such as violent act at any of the registration centres within the period under review, and assured that “Police officers are actively on the ground to maintain law and order”.