Exhibition of Voters Register And Re-registration Of Voters Opens Across Ghana

The exhibition will afford voters the opportunity to check whether their names are in the register, verify their registration details and correct errors and omissions.

The exhibition which will last for twenty-one (21) days is taking place in all 29,000 polling stations across the Ghana.

In Accra, our correspondents report that the centres were not very busy and people just trickled in.

Officials were hopeful that as the days go by, the numbers will increase.

Meanwhile, 7,106 persons in the Ashanti Region have been identified to have registered with National Health Insurance Scheme ID Cards in 2012.

The Atwima Nwabiagya Constituency has the highest number of more than 1,700 registrants on the voters register with some other constituencies having no record of such cases.

The Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Serebour Quarcoo, made this known to Radio Ghana in Kumasi.

The EC’s Regional Director explained that the just-began exhibition of the voters’ register across the country has two objectives.

It is to afford voters who registered with NHIS Cards in 2012, the opportunity to re-register and also to enable legally registered voters to either confirm or correct mistakes with their personal data on the register.

Mr Quarcoo emphasized that even though it is important for registered voters to patronize the three-week exhibition exercise in their own interest, no one will be disenfranchised in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections for failing to check his or her particulars.

According to him, the use of the biometric verification machines is to enable the EC to test correct what happened in 2012 when some voters were disenfranchised because their fingerprints could not be verified.

Mr Quarcoo said exhibition is not meant for the transfer of votes as that opportunity will be provided at a later date.

On the deletion of data of registrants who might have died after the 2012 registration, the EC Regional Director said it is only the Courts that can order the deletion of any names from the register and therefore asked people to volunteer credible information for details of deceased or unqualified persons from the register.

Meanwhile, our regional correspondent reports that the exercise has begun at all the more than 500 centres in the region.

An appreciable number of voters have so far patronised the exercise which began at 7 am July 18.