Hundreds of youths thronged the Amasaman District Electoral Office on the first day of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) Special Voting Exercise to enroll on the national electoral roll.
Issuing of voters’ identity cards delayed as a result of technical hitches, Mr Michael Boamah, Electoral Officer for Amasaman told Ghana News Agency (GNA).
As at 12 noon, only eleven prospective voters had been issued with voters’ identity cards, Mr Boamah said.
He told GNA that there were moving vans at three electoral areas; Kuntunse, Kwashieman and Manhyea to ease registration at the district office.
There was misunderstanding between representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) over mounting canopies at the centres and challenging of an eligible voter who had come all the way from Anyaa-Sowotuom, contributing to the delay of the process.
In the first instance, Mr Frederick Akuffo Williams, NPP’s Amasaman Constituency Youth Organiser, explained that at their (parties’) last Inter-Party Advisory Committee’s meeting with the EC towards the exercise, it was agreed that the parties provided additional canopies aside the two EC would supply.
Though their agreement came with the condition that the canopies should not bear any party colour, those of the NDC’s had its colours, thus, NPP resisted it, he explained.
Mr Williams pleaded that the exercise should not be politicized to ensure a smooth process.
Speaking on the system failure, Mr Williams said it was not strange as such exercises over the years had encountered challenges such as what the exercise experienced on the first, Tuesday, May 7, 2024.
He hoped that the challenge, which was resolved by 1100 hours, would enable more people to be registered in the coming days.
The Youth Organiser called on all stakeholders to cooperate with the EC for a successful exercise.
Mr Sedem Afenyo, NDC’s Parliamentary candidate for Amasaman Constituency, was on the contrary disappointed at the system’s challenges. He however advised the new voters to take part in the exercise as it was their civic right.
