Long queues on final day of voter registration  in Accra

By Christabel Oboshie ANNAN & Zeenatu ABUBAKAR, Accra  

On the last day of the Electoral Commission’s Limited Voters registration exercise, there were still a lot of people trying to go through the process of acquiring their voter’s Identification card.

Hundreds of young people were seen jostling in long queues to ensure that they complete the process of registration before the deadline elapsed yesterday.

When our reporters went round to observe the last day of the Limited Registration Exercise in the national capital, they noticed that more people were trooping in to register.

They observed that the atmosphere at the various centres was calm and more serene compared to the beginning of the exercise where centres were noisy and boisterous with party agents arguing about the eligibility of potential registrants due to residential constraint leading to visible frustration and agitation at the various centres.

However, this was not the case at the same venues visited yesterday.

Although there was some level frustration, it was a marked improvement from what was witnessed earlier during the registration process.

The exercise started on September 12, 2023 with the view to registering about 1.35 million Ghanaians who have turned 18 years and above and other eligible persons who could not register in 2020.

The exercise which started with some challenges such as network issues resulting in some centres starting late, non-functional registration equipment, lack of adequate education on the exercise and people travelling long distances to the district offices to register, with some having to return twice to the centres to register has seen high numbers of people registered so far.

The team visited the Ayawaso East, Korle Klottey, Ayawaso Central and Ayawaso North Registration Centres.

Ayawaso East Registration Centre

On arrival at the Ayawaso East Registration Centre, the team observed that the people were seated patiently waiting for their turn to register.

The Registration Officer at this Centre, Joshua Otsedzen, said that as at Sunday, October 1, 2023, the centre had registered around 2,069 people.

He said that even though they had faced some challenges at the beginning of the exercise, things have been calm in the last few days.

As at 10:55am, he said the centre has registered 17 people and had not had any challenges so far.

200 Challenged forms filled

He disclosed that his centre has had about 200 Challenged forms filled since the exercise started, adding that most cases are being looked into.

When asked about minors who had tried to register since the exercise started, he revealed that the centre encountered a lot of them but did not compile the numbers.

“We only send them away and warned them not to return to try to infiltrate the process,” he stressed.

He added that party agents at the centre, have played a useful role in challenging most minors from registering.

When asked if they could complete the registration by end of day yesterday, he said would-be registrants will be given a chit as long as they are in a queue.

He explained that they will be made to come the following day with their chit to be registered today.

Korle Klottey Registration Centre

On arrival at the Korle Klottey Registration Centre, there was some agitations from party agents about illegal registrants trying to infiltrate the process.

At 11:50am, the centre had a lot of young people sitting under canopies waiting for their turns to register.

The Municipal Electoral Officer for Korle Klottey, Linda Esi Abban, said that as at October 1, 2023, the centre had registered some 3,731 people.

15 Challenge cases filed 

She stated that the centre has had 15 cases filed under Challenged forms.

Out of the 15 cases, she revealed that five have been reviewed and four had been cleared, with the rest to be reviewed on October 3.

She added that out of the 15 cases, five had to do with cases of suspected foreigners.

As at 12:15pm, the centre had registered 71 people.

Ayawaso Central Registration Centre

The team arrived at Ayawaso Central Registration Centre at 12: 20pm.

About 70 people had registered at this Centre with others in a queue waiting to be attended to.

The Director for Ayawaso Central Municipal, Lydia Anom, revealed that 3,186 people had been registered at the centre as at October 1.

7 Challenge forms filled

On the issue of Challenge forms filled so far, she said her centre had about seven forms filled with only one case being cleared.

She added that the rest are still under review and will be finalised on the October 3.

Out of the seven, she disclosed that one form was about a minor and the other six was about alleged foreigners being registered.

Ayawaso North Registration Centre

Ayawaso North Registration Centre had a lot of young people seated outside waiting for their turn to register.

The Assistant Electoral Officer, Rosemary Dardoe, said that they had registered about 3,084 people as at October 1.

23 Challenge forms filled

She disclosed that her centre has had about 23 Challenged forms filled since the exercise started, adding that 15 cases have been cleared so far.

Out of the 23 cases, she explained that three cases concerned  people below 18, and 20 of the cases were about non-Ghanaians who had registered.

She added that the centre had registered about 150 people daily since the exercise begun.