Only 180,747 registered voters have so far checked names in proposed Western-North region referendum

Only 180,747 representing 35.8 per cent out of a total number of 505,314 registered voters in the proposed region – Western-North, checked their names during the recent voter exhibition exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana.

The voter exhibition exercise became necessary for the electorate in that area to vote a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in a referendum on December 27, 2018 for or against the creation of the proposed Western-North.

Mr Stephen Opoku Mensah, the Western Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Sekondi.

He said though the EC went round to sensitize the registered voters on the need to check and verify their names, turn-out was low.

However, he said, publicity would be intensified prior to the December 27 referendum to ensure a higher turn-out.

Mr Mensah said 80 per cent of registered voters who cast their ballots in favour of creation of the new Region, would be binding for the creation of the Western-North as a new Region.

It would be recalled that the EC recently opened the voter register for an exhibition exercise, which would afford the electorate the opportunity to vote in a Referendum on December 27, 2018 of ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ as to the creation of the Region, in 947 polling stations in all the 9 Districts of the proposed Region.

According to the EC, 9 constituencies are likely to be created out of the proposed Western- North Region to be carved out of the Western Region.

He said the EC has identified inclusion as an important benchmark of the exercise whereby prospective voters with valid ID cards whose names have not been captured in the Register could fight for their names to be included in the register.

The exercise afforded voters the opportunity to check their names if they were wrongly spelled or object to names in the register in the case of minors and expunge names of deceased persons from the register.

Source: GNA

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Shares