By Jeremiah Nutsugah
The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced that it is “not feasible” to extend the deadline for the ongoing limited voters registration exercise.
Despite technical challenges encountered during the first two days of the exercise, the Commission stated that the process has since been smooth across the country without any hindrance.
The registration of new voters commenced on May 7, 2024, and is scheduled to close on May 27, 2024.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, Mr. Samuel Tettey, Deputy EC Chair in Charge of Operations, said the 21-day period allotted for the exercise is sufficient.
He noted that while the first week saw large queues at some registration centers, the numbers have decreased significantly with a week remaining until the scheduled closure.
Mr. Tettey also mentioned that the Commission’s mobile teams have been deployed to hard-to-reach areas to enable applicants who may not be able to access district registration centers to register.
“This is adequate to cover all difficult areas that the Commission earmarked,” he said. “We don’t believe it is feasible at this time to consider an extension,” Mr. Tettey added.
Data released by the EC indicate that as of the close of registration on the 13th day of the exercise, Sunday, May 19, 2024, a total of 522,025 new voters had been registered, with 446,416 (85.52%) being first-time voters between the ages of 18-21.
Of the total figure, 246,455 (47.21%) are males and 275,570 (52.79%) are females.
The total number of challenged cases across the country stands at 7,821.
