EC registers 1.8m Ghanaians in five days

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said it has registered at least 1.8million after five days of it mass voter registration exercise.

The EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr Serebour Quaicoe expressed satifaction at this rate of registration when he spoke to theghanareport.com in an interview Monday.

The EC wants to get 16million Ghanaians registered by the time the country goes to the polls in December.

And the 1.8m registered represents more than 10% of the target. And it has some 30 days more to do this – barring the mop-up exercise slated for later.

The registration, being organised in five phases, started on June 30.

The first part of the first phase was held for six days, and the second phase commenced on Monday at different registration centres.

By estimation “we have five phases, and this is half of one of the phases,” Dr. Quaicoe said.

So “if we get about 2 million” then the EC could exceed their target of 16 million barring any challenges, he said.

One of the challenges that has confronted the EC is the management of crowds to curtail the spread of coronavirus at the registration centres.

In view of that, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has introduced a new system to control swelling numbers at the centres.

The first days were fraught with crowds trooping to the centres in violation of COVID-19 guidelines outlined by the EC at the venues.

“Under the Queue Management System, the first 150 applicants who arrive at the registration centres will be provided with numbered chits. The first half of this number will be served from morning to early afternoon.

“The second half will be asked to leave the centres and return in the afternoon when the registration process for the first batch has been completed. They will then be served,” the Acting Public Affairs Director at the EC, Mrs Sylvia Annoh, said in a statement on Monday, July 6.

There are fears the coronavirus pandemic would dampen the urge to go out and register for a vote.

But the EC has indicated the numbers registering does not show the impact of any such fears.