The Tamale Central and Oforikrom constituencies of the Northern and Ashanti Regions respectively have recorded low turnouts in the ongoing voter’s register exhibition exercise.
Citi News checks show that the turnout for the Electoral Commission’s voter exhibition exercise in some centres within Oforikrom has been generally low since the exercise started yesterday.
Speaking to Citi News, an electoral officer for the Holy Spirit Salvation Ministry A and B centres, Sampson K. Mensah, said turnout at the two centres has been very low.
“The number of voters who are expected to verify their names in this centre is 952. Yesterday we recorded less than 20 people, today we have seen improvements because so far we have about 40 people who have verified their names and we are still expecting more people to come”
The situation at the Tamale Central Constituency has not been any different as they also recorded very low turnout on the first day of the exhibition.
Some residents of the Ambariya primary school polling station blamed the low turnout for the exhibition on a lack of awareness and the inability to start the exercise on time. They also appealed to the Electoral Commission for an extension of the duration for the exhibition.
“I just came to a mechanic to repair my motor and I saw the people standing there checking and so I also decided to come and check. I think the electoral commission was supposed to make announcements so that people will know about it but they failed to, that is why people do not know about it.
“They were supposed to start yesterday but due to the delay in the arrival of the materials for tha exhibition they had to start today so we are calling on the electoral commission to give us an extra day to cover up for the lost day.”
Northern Region encounters challenges
The Electoral Commission in the Tamale Central constituency has encountered significant challenges in the ongoing voter’s exhibition exercise.
The Acting Northern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Lucas Yiryel, however, assured that the problem has since been rectified and materials are expected to arrive for the exercise to start.
Exhibition of voter’s register
The Exhibition of the Voters Register commenced on Tuesday, September 10 and will end the following week September 17, 2019.
According to the Electoral Commission, the exercise will take place in the over 30,000 polling stations nationwide.
Voters who were captured in the electoral roll between 2012 and 2019 are expected to visit their respective polling stations where they will be allowed to confirm or review their details.
The Deputy Commission Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare explained that the process is only for correctional purposes and not to capture new registrants.
He, however, added that the exhibition exercise will also allow for requests for name amendments and insertions.