Network failure impedes progress of voter registration
The second day of the limited voter registration has been disrupted by network failure, despite the Electoral Commission’s (EC) assertion that the issue has been resolved.
The EC reassured the people of a smooth registration process from Wednesday, May 8, 2024, given the difficulties most registration centres encountered on the first day of the limited voter registration exercise due to network failure.
Dr Serebour Quaicoe, Director of Electoral Services, addressed those concerns on JoyNews’ PM Express, which was monitored by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), citing internet connectivity issues as the primary cause of the challenges encountered on the first day.
He did, however, indicate that most of the connectivity issues had been resolved and that the exercise would proceed smoothly with minimal interruptions.
However, that was not the case when the GNA visited the Ablekuma West EC district office on Wednesday.
As of 1200 hours, when the GNA filed the report, just 36 persons had successfully registered.
In total, 95 people had been registered since the exercise began on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
Alhaji Mohammed, Returning Officer, Ablekuma West EC district office, informed the GNA that progress was delayed because the network failure that hampered the beginning of the exercise had not been resolved.
He expressed the hope that the issue would soon be resolved to enable registrants to do so.
Some party agents who spoke with the GNA felt Wednesday’s exercise was an improvement over Tuesday.
Ransford Adjei, a party agent for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), stated that the process was more fluid on Wednesday.
“Today’s exercise is far better than yesterday. When we started, the machines were working perfectly well; It was just around 1100 hours that the things begun to slow down, but I am hopeful that things will progress smoothly,” he said.
Collins Amponsah, an agent for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), also expressed satisfaction with the work accomplished so far.
The ongoing limited voter registration drive is an important move ahead of the 2024 General Election. This conforms with Article 45 of the 1992 Constitution.
The 21-day exercise is being held in the Commission’s 268 District Offices across the country. It ends on May 27, 2024.
Source: GNA