Less than 1,000 people were registered in the first two days of the limited voter registration in the Upper East Region, the Electoral Commission has revealed.
Speaking on Breakfast Today on Dreamz FM on Thursday, Regional Director of the EC William Obeng Darkwa said the commission recorded between 800 and 900 registrants in the first two of the exercise that is scheduled for 21 days.
“As at yesterday, per my figures, I think we are heading towards a 1000. It is within the range of 800 and 900 reach, gradually we are heading towards 1000,” he stated.
The exercise, which began on May 7, is to afford eligible Ghanaians, who have not registered, an opportunity to have their names entered onto the electoral roll.
The first day of the exercise was marred by technical and network challenges that brought registration to a halt in most centres across the country.
The EC, however, indicated that the challenges had been resolved and assured of a smooth exercise in the subsequent days.
But there was little improvement on the second day, prompting calls for an extension.
Obeng Darkwa, while addressing concerns of alleged busing of foreigners into the country to partake in the exercise, urged eligible citizens to not wait till the last days to seek to register.
He further advised those turning up to register to comport themselves when they visit the centres and ensure they have the required documents.
“My advice to potential registrants is that get all your documentation – you know you’re to go there with your Ghana Card, a passport or in the absence of that, you go with 2 persons who are themselves already registered and they are going vouch for you”
The EC Regional Director also cautioned against grantor contractors, stating that one could only grantee for 10 people.
“We should all know if you are going to grantee for somebody, the law specifies how many persons you can grantee for. The number is 10. So nobody should himself into a grantor contractor or grantee contractor and then go and sit at at the centre and say ‘because these people I know them, they don’t have identification documents, I am going vouch for all of them’. You can’t do beyond 10 persons. That’s what the law says. If you do that, you are breaching the law, you could be prosecuted when it is detected”.
