We have achieved our target of first-time voters, party agents say as EC ends limited voter registration.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has officially ended the 2024 limited voter registration exercise today, Wednesday, May 29, 2024.

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The 21-day exercise which commenced on Tuesday, May 7, was extended by two days to make up for the challenges that fraught the first two days of the process.

The Commission targeted 623,000 first-time voters to be enrolled in the national album ahead of the 2024 election.

Despite the initial technical challenges that marred the exercise on the first two days and on the last day, political party agents have expressed satisfaction with the process, stating that they have met their targets.

“We have achieved our target but you can see that a lot of the students are still in the queue trying to register,” Emmanuel Nartey, NPP’s agent at the EC’s District Office in Accra, told TV3’s Noble Crosby Annan.

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“We don’t have any challenge now because we don’t have a lot of people in the queue…but I don’t trust the system, it may come and then after 30 minutes, it goes off again. I’m just hoping that we can [register] the people around so we do not have any backlog…but we have met our target,” he added.

Also, the party agent for the NDC stressed that the exercise has been smooth and their expectations have been met.

“We have met our expectations and we think things are going in our favour…today is the last day but the network is not stable. Our main challenge is that people are challenging a lot people in terms of residence,” he told Noble Crosby Annan.

Relatedly, the exercise ended smoothly in the Ashanti region, but not without concerns about the registration of minors, non-residents and non-citizens.

However, applicants who got their voter cards on the last day of the registration exercise, but for the extension, would’ve missed the opportunity to be part of the over 17 million Ghanaians who will vote on December 7.

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensa, has emphasised the importance of compiling a credible voter register as election 2024 beckons.

She said that without a credible voter register, there can never be transparent elections.

Addressing a news conference in Accra on Monday, May 6, ahead of the 2024 limited voter registration exercise, Jean Mensah said the EC is poised to deliver a credible and transparent election.

“As a commission, we remain poised and ready to deliver credible, transparent and peaceful elections and electoral processes starting with the 2024 registration exercise.

“It is well known that the voters register is a bedrock of an election. Without a credible and accurate voter register, there can be no transparent and acceptable elections,” she stated.