The first day of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) limited voter registration in the Sunyani East Constituency was delayed because of the absence of activation codes to access the registration process.
During a visit by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in the Sunyani East Constituency at approximately 0840 hours, it was observed that two of the EC’s voter registration centres were still in the process of setting up their systems to facilitate voter registration.
The delay in the activation codes hindered the smooth operation of the registration process, causing inconvenience to both the EC officials and the potential voters.
The registration process was scheduled to take place on May 7th to May 27th, 2024, at exactly 0700 hours to 1800 hours each day, however by the time GNA departed from the two district registration centers at about 1330 hours, new applicants were still seen waiting and feeling frustrated.
In an interview with the GNA in Sunyani, Lawyer Ernest Opoku, the Sunyani Municipal EC Officer, stated that the registration exercise had not yet commenced due to a delay in receiving the activation code for the registration kit.
He explained that the EC officials were ready to work but were hindered by the absence of the code on the first day of the exercise, saying they have been assured of EC’s technicians working to resolve the issue promptly to facilitate the registration process.
Lawyer Opoku said the applicants waiting in the queue for the exercise had been informed about the situation and were asked to have patience as the issue would be resolved.
He emphasized that the EC’s goal was to register about 5,000 new voters during the 21-day period of the registration process in the constituency, adding that during the last limited voters registration exercise, about 3,583 new voters were registered in the area.
On the other hand, information gathered from the third centre at Yawsae indicated that the registration had also not yet commenced at the place.