Voters’ register exhibition begins today

The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced the commencement of its Provisional Voters Register Exhibition Exercise, scheduled to run from today, August 20 to August 27, 2024. This crucial exercise, integral to ensuring a smooth electoral process, will be held daily from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. at polling stations across the country.

Addressing the press yesterday at the EC Corporate Head Office, the Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Bossman Asare, explained that the exercise would take place in all 268 districts nationwide, making it accessible to voters in every region.

The exercise

He stated that the exercise was designed to give registered voters an opportunity to verify their details on the provisional voters register, ensuring accuracy ahead of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year.

Dr. Asare emphasised that the exercise was exclusively about correcting the Provisional Voters Register to make it robust and credible for the 2024 General Elections. He added that the voters register, in its current state, was provisional, and the Exhibition Exercise aimed to rectify any errors before it would be finalized for the elections.

“By ‘provisional,’ it implies that the register is not final. After the Exhibition Exercise, the voters register will be accurate and credible. We have heard from sections of the media that the Commission has not given the Provisional Register to the political parties after informing them to bring their external drives for the register,” he said.

He noted that, per Regulation 22 of C.I. 91, as amended by C.I. 126, the Commission was required to provide the provisional register to the political parties no later than three months from the end of the registration period.

Measures

Dr. Asare confirmed that the external drives containing the provisional voters register were ready for pickup. He explained that the provisional voters register would be displayed at all polling stations (exhibition centres) throughout the country to allow all registered voters to check and ensure their names are on the voters register.

He noted that the purpose of the exhibition exercise was to allow registered voters to verify their details—such as name, age, sex, polling station, and photograph as captured during the registration exercise—and to request amendments, changes, or insertions where necessary.

He said the primary goal of the exercise was to help voters determine their polling stations for election day. He stressed the importance of all registered voters visiting the exhibition centres to check their names.

“At the exhibition centres, registered voters can address issues such as the inclusion of omitted names, objections to names of unqualified voters on the register, removal of names of deceased voters, replacement of poor-quality or damaged Voter ID Cards, correction of misspelled names, and amendment of other registration details (e.g., age, sex) due to clerical errors,” he said.

Advice

He advised the general public, particularly voters, to go to the exhibition centres with their voter identity cards to verify their details, as this facilitates the verification process. He mentioned that at the exhibition centre, there would be the Exception/Exclusion Lists, the Multiple/Double Lists.

He added that the exhibition centres would be open to exhibition supervisors and deputy exhibition supervisors, members and staff of the Electoral Commission, persons accompanying registered voters who are physically incapacitated, persons accredited by the Commission, including party representatives, journalists, and observers

He disclosed that the Commission had recruited and trained all officials needed for the exhibition exercise, including exhibition supervisors, deputy exhibition supervisors, and exhibition officers, adding that “all materials needed for the exercise have been sent to the regions”.

He called on the general public, especially registered voters, to take an interest in the upcoming voter exhibition exercise to assist in updating and producing a credible voters register for the 2024 general elections.