Six days into the 21-day limited voter registration period across the nation, the Electoral Commission (EC) has registered 251,149 new eligible voters, according to Dr. Bossman Asare, the Deputy Chairman of the Commission responsible for Corporate Services.
135, 898 (54.11%) of the total number of registered voters are female, and 115,251 (45.89%) are male.
Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, stated the Commission has also registered 400 people with disabilities nationwide during a press conference on Monday in Accra.
Regional breakdown
The Greater Accra region has registered 33,899 voters (13.5 per cent); North East, 6,928 (2.8 per cent); Upper East, 10,646 (4.2 per cent); Northern, 19,491 (7.8 per cent); Bono, 8.972 (3.6 per cent); Bono East, 9, 681 (3.9 per cent); Volta, 12,190 (4.9 per cent); Upper West, 8,474 (3.4 per cent); Eastern, 25, 625 (10.2 per cent); Central, 27, 984 (11.1 per cent), and Ahafo, 6, 273 (2.5 per cent).
The remaining registrations are Ashanti, 44,232 (17.6 per cent), Western North; 9,134 (3.6 per cent); Oti; 7, 259 (2.9 per cent); Savannah 5, 261 (2.1 per cent); and Western Region, 15,100 (6.0 per cent).
According to Dr. Asare, 221,066 out of all voters who registered within the first six days are first-time voters, or applicants between the ages of 18 and 21. They make up the majority of registered voters nationwide.
During the initial five days of the registration process, 98, 926 applications (39.39 percent), used the Ghana Card, whereas around 622 applicants,(0.25 percent), utilized the passport, according to him.
Dr Asare said the guarantor system had been used by 151,601 applicants, representing 60.36 per cent.
The EC said out of a total of 2,935 challenges cases, the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest with 524 challenged cases.
“The guarantor system continues to dominate the forms of identification. This is something the Commission is not proud of because it is used by political parties and certain persons to facilitate the registration of unqualified persons such as minors and foreigners,” he said.
Dr Asare said the Commission was hopeful that in future registration exercises, the guarantor system would be the sole identity document to help curb the chaos in registration centres over the ages and nationality of applicants.
The Commission appealed to political parties to desist from using violence to challenge the eligibility of applicants but resort to the appropriate modalities to resolve such cases.
The Commission also appealed to parents to ensure that their children below 18 years did not go to register.
