The Electoral Commission (EC) anticipates that during its next mop-up voter registration campaign, which is set to take place from Thursday, August 1 to Saturday, August 2024, it will add 50,000–70,000 new voters to the electoral roll.
The purpose of the three-day activity is to allow those who turned eighteen after the recent limited voter registration period and those who were not able to register beforehand to have their names included into the poll book.
Samuel Tettey, Deputy Chairman of the EC, in-Charge of Operations, stated at a news conference in Accra that the Commission had selected its 268 District Offices, 26 Public Universities, and 41 Prison Centres nationwide for the exercise.
The Electoral Commission (EC) anticipates that during its next mop-up voter registration campaign, which is set to take place from Thursday, August 1 to Saturday, August 2024, it will add 50,000–70,000 new voters to the electoral roll.
The purpose of the three-day activity is to allow those who turned eighteen after the recent limited voter registration period and those who were not able to register beforehand to have their names included into the poll book.
Samuel Tettey, Deputy Chairman of the EC, in-Charge of Operations, stated at a news conference in Accra that the Commission had selected its 268 District Offices, 26 Public Universities, and 41 Prison Centres nationwide for the exercise.
According to Mr. Tettey, the Commission successfully registered 778,447 voters on the electoral roll at the conclusion of the 23-day activity.
He stated that 408,332 females, or 52.45% of the total, and 370,115 men, or 47.55 percent, made up the statistic.
There were 18, 681,366 provisionally registered voters as of right now, he claimed.
According to Mr. Tettey, efforts to guarantee a “all-inclusive Voters Register ahead of the 2024 General Election” included the mop-up voter registration campaign.
Speaking about the procedures for the exercise, Mr. Tettey stated that a qualified applicant must show proof of eligibility in the form of a Ghana Card or Ghana Passport at the designated Registration Centre. He also stated that if any of the aforementioned documents are not available, the applicant will need two people who are already registered voters to act as guarantors.
According to him, that was in line with CI 91’s Regulation 2, as modified by CI 126.
“Registered Voters are limited to ten guaranteed votes.” Mr. Tettey issued a warning, saying that anyone who provided a guarantee for ten people during the last registration process was ineligible to provide a guarantee for the other applicants during the Mop-Up effort.
“Ghanaians who are at least 18 years old and meet the other requirements for registration, including being residents or ordinary residents of the electoral area where they wish to register as voters,” he said, are the people for whom guarantors must make sure their wishes are fulfilled.
Political parties were allowed to send agents to the Registration Centres to watch the exercise, Mr. Tettey added, but he advised the parties to train their representatives in proper conduct to guarantee a trouble-free process.
“There will be security presence at the various Registration Centres to ensure a peaceful environment,” he said, adding that “the Commission has informed the Ghana Police Service about the Mop-Up exercise.”
Once more, he asked authorities in charge of registration and applicants to act properly at the centres in order to guarantee a seamless process.
“In a similar vein, we would like to strongly advise parents and guardians to refrain from permitting their minor children to participate in the Mop-Up Voter Registration Exercise.”
Along with this, Mr. Tettey mentioned that the Voters Register will be on display from August 20 to 27, 2024, at all voting places nationwide.
He said, “All registered voters are encouraged to use the shortcode to electronically check their names in the voters register or to go to their polling places to confirm that their names are in the voters register.”