1,835,417 Registered • 7,374 Challenged

A TOTAL of 1,835,417 people registered for the recent limited voter registration exercise.
This exceeded the EC’s target of one million by over 835,417.
Out of this number 7,374 newly registered people had their registration challenged.
Consequently, the EC has called on the political parties, as well as Ghanaians, to ensure that the register is cleaned during the exhibition exercise scheduled for October 5 to 11.
These statistics were contained in the document distributed to the political parties by the EC at the national Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held in Accra last Friday.
According to the document, 12,822,474 people have currently registered for the 2008 election.
With the recent limited registration, the Ashanti Region recorded the highest number of new voters, 374,451, followed by Greater Accra 340,694, Eastern, 186,708, Brong Ahafo, 186,604, Western, 185,400.
The rest are Northern Region 153,793, Volta 151,718, Central 141,351, Upper East 69,988 and Upper West 44,710.
For the districts, Tema recorded the highest number of 82,658 voters while Sissala West recorded 2,850, being the lowest number.
The document noted that in 2005 the total number of registered voters was 9,238,009, with 11,354 as challenges, while in 2004, there was a total of 10,354,970 registered voters with 4,427 challenges.
Commenting on the figures, the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Ohene Ntow, described the 1,835,417 figure as problematic, explaining that the estimates for the registration were based on population census figures that was generated 10 years ago.
He said using 10-year-old figures as the base was “fundamentally difficult” and that he believed that the number could be correct although it may include double registration, registration of minors and non Ghanaians.
The National Organiser of the NDC, Mr Samuel Ofosu Ampofo, expressed surprise that a total of 1,835,417 people registered for the limited exercise.
He also added that the NDC totally rejects the idea that the EC would provide the political parties with only compact disc copies of the voters register, which is without pictures.
He wondered how the parties would work with a soft copy register without pictures and urged the EC to reconsider its decision.
The Director of Operations of the CPP, Mr Ekow Duncan, said the EC was not to blame for the huge number of people who registered, because the double registration and registration of minors were done by some political parties.
He also called on the EC to provide the political parties with copies of the register that contained photographs of voters.