The Electoral Commission (EC) has served notice to the public that minors and foreigners will be prosecuted when they register to during the ongoing limited registration. There are widespread reports that persons below the age of 18 are being encouraged by their parents and some political parties to register their names in the voters roll.
Answering questions after a news conference on current issues on the limited voters registration in Accra on Monday, 13th May, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, a Deputy Chair of the EC in-charge of Corporate Services, said the Commission would not spare persons who are not qualified to register since the acts contravenes Ghana’s electoral laws.
Dr. Eric Asare appealed to parents to ensure that their children below 18 years did not go to register. He reiterated the EC’s plan for the Ghana card to be used in voter registration in the next elections after this year’s polls.
He said a total of 251,149 new voters have registered, representing a daily average of 45,000. Out of the total figure, a total of 135, 898 (54.11 per cent) of the registered voters are females, and 115,251 (45.89 per cent) are males.
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).
Dr Asare said the first time voters, representing applicants between the ages of 18 and 21 constitute the majority of registered voters, accounted for 221,066 out of the total registered voters.
He said in the first five days of the registration exercise, 98, 926 applicants, constituting 39.39 per cent used the Ghana Card, with some 622 applicants, representing 0.25 per cent using the passport. He said the guarantor system had been used by 151,601 applicants, representing 60.36 per cent.
“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.
The EC said out of a total of 2,935 challenges cases, the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest with 524 challenged cases.
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.
