Photo taking of registered voters begins in Eastern Region

Koforidua, May 6, GNA- Taking of photographs for all registered voters in the Eastern Region begins on Thursday May 6 to 13 at 2,607 polling stations in the region.

A visit to some of the stations in the Koforidua municipality by the Ghana News Agency (GNA) showed that people were tricking in to take the photos for lamination by the Electoral officers. A total 1,144,892 eligible voters registered in the region as against 1,237,397 voters previously.

Speaking to the GNA, the Eastern Regional Electoral Officer, Mr Samuel Ntow, said additional 500 cameras were being expected from Accra on Friday, while the full complement to serve each registration station would be obtained before the end of the eight-day exercise.

He said so far, no complaint had been made at any polling station, saying that there were enough films for the exercise.

He asked all those who had misplaced their registration slips to report to the registration staff who would cross-check their particulars in the master register and if proved to be genuine, they would be given the photo ID card.

Mr Ntow asked the literates to examine the information on their slips to ensure that all entries about name, sex and age are correct or have any mistakes corrected before the lamination was done.

The Director asked those who travelled outside the country during the photo taking period not to panic since after the end of the Greater Accra exercise in June, the team would return to the region for a mopping up exercise to serve those who could not take the photos. He urged all who registered to ensure that they go for their photo IDs.

Meanwhile, reports from the Kwahu South district indicated that there were not adequate cameras to serve all the registration stations. The GNA reports indicated that only 160 cameras were provided for the 294 polling stations in the district as a result of which some polling stations had been merged for the photo taking exercise. The District Electoral Officer, Mr Kwaku Konadu Kankam said most of the cameras were still being used at certain parts of Ashanti region where the exercise could not take off on schedule.

There were long queues at some polling stations at Nkawkaw, Mpraeso, Atibie, Obomeng and Bepong in the morning due to the merger of some polling stations. 6 May 04