More eligible voters have been registered in the Greater Accra Region as compared to the 15 other regions since the mass voter registration exercise began on June 30, 2020.
It constitutes 20% of the total voters registered so far.
This is followed by the Ashanti Region (18.4%), Eastern Region (9.5%) and Central Region (9.4%), with the North East Region at the bottom with 1.7%.
The Greater Accra Region has also recorded more voter eligibility challenges (1,391) than any other Region so far.
Provisional statistics available at the Electoral Commission show that 929,366 voters have so far been registered in the Greater Accra Region while in the Ashanti Region 816,481 have been registered, and 421,467 in the Eastern Region.
So far, Central Region has enrolled 415,799 voters, Western Region recorded 287,222; Volta Region marked 274,063, and Northern Region had 254, 575 voters penned down.
The Bono Region has booked 177,424; 163,680 for Bono East; 147,365 for Upper East; 117,062 for Western North, and 115, 281 for Upper West.
At the bottom in terms of voters registered so far is North East with 76,854; followed by Savannah Region with 78,410; Oti Region with 83,799; and Ahafo Region with 86,498 voters.
The Electoral Commission has in all registered 4,445,346 voters nationwide. This represents 30% of the Commission’s target of 15 million voters and covers both the first and second phases of the exercise from Tuesday, June 30 to Saturday, July 11, 2020.
The Commission projects that if the current trend continues, “Greater Accra Region alone will constitute more than 20% of the total registered voters” going into the December Presidential and Parliamentary polls.
Voter registration applications challenged
The eligibility of individuals to register for the Voter ID Card is also being challenged more in the border regions, according to the Electoral Commission.
Though the Greater Accra Region is said to top the challenge chart in terms of absolute figures, Oti, Ahafo, Volta and Bono Regions are dominating in terms of percentages.
0.5% of the registered persons in Oti have been challenged, 0.42% in Ahafo, 0.39% in Volta, and 0.02% in Bono Regions.
In absolute figures, however, the Greater Accra Region has had 1,391 of its voter registration applications challenged.
These challenged applications are submitted to the respective District Registration Review Committees which makes a determination within 14 days examine the grounds of the challenge and determine the merit of the application to register, then communicate in writing, its decision to the Commission, applicant and any other interested parties.
The Electoral Commission is mandated to give effect to the Committee’s decision fourteen days after the individuals involved have been notified unless notice of an appeal against the Committee’s decision has been served on the Commission.
Registration at Senior High Schools
The EC also says it is considering a second round of registration for Senior High School students in schools where there are no registration centres.
This is consequent upon the inability of the Commission to “even register 50% of” the students in the first round (last Saturday and Sunday).
Additionally, the Commission says it will “have a mop-up registration for those who will not be captured during the main phases of the registration exercise” in an effort to “not disenfranchise anyone who wants to register”.
Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, a Deputy Commission Chairman in charge of Corporate Service has however told Citi News that the Commission has not been served with the writ against the conduct of the registration at these Senior High Schools.
The NDC filed the suit at the High Court on Friday and expected to be heard on Monday 23rd July. At the Commission’s Let the Citizen Know” encounter on Monday, Dr. Bossman said “nothing has come to the attention of the Electoral Commission. We haven’t received any notification regarding any suit.”
