John Dramani Mahama, the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has emphasized the need for the Electoral Commission (EC) to address the network-related challenges and congestion currently marring the progress of the limited voter registration drive
Mr. Mahama voiced these concerns during his visit to the EC’s headquarters, where he personally assessed the registration procedures.
On the fourth day of the exercise, Mahama acknowledged the influx of reports from various district offices, prompting his decision to inspect the situation himself. He highlighted a significant issue – congestion arising from people converging at a single registration point.
Additionally, the network connectivity proved unreliable, hindering the smooth operation of the instant online registration process and potentially causing data duplication.
Mahama urged the Electoral Commission to engage with telecommunications companies to resolve the network issues and facilitate quicker registration. Furthermore, he proposed the expansion of registration centers to alleviate the congestion burden.
Mahama emphasized that many newly eligible young voters lacked Ghana Cards, which would have rendered them ineligible for registration if Ghana Cards were the sole accepted means of registration.
These concerns raised by Mahama are part of wider apprehensions among stakeholders regarding the efficient conduct of the limited voter registration exercise. Criticisms have been directed at the Electoral Commission, accusing it of inadequate preparation for the heightened demand for registration services.
This is day 4 of the exercise, and we have been receiving reports from the various district offices,” he said. “Today, I decided to go around and see for myself. I understand there are five districts here, and there’s a lot of congestion.
People are coming from all over to register at one point. The second thing I have noticed, and the complaint, is that the network is not strong. And so they are not able to use the instant online registration. And so they are capturing some data offline. The danger is that sometimes there’s a repeat of somebody’s name, not of his/hers. He remarked.
