Some centres in the Ashanti Region are experiencing network challenges during the ongoing Voter Card Replacement and Transfer exercise being conducted by the Electoral Commission.
The exercise, which started on Thursday, aims to allow voters to replace lost cards and transfer their votes.
However, network challenges have slowed the process at some centres, with some voters unable to complete the process.
While some district offices of the Electoral Commission are experiencing a smooth process, others are struggling with network issues.
A voter, speaking to Citi News expressed disappointment at being unable to replace his card due to the network challenges.
“I have lost my Voter ID card and I have come to replace it. I was told to enter a code and pay 10 Ghana cedis. I have been here since morning, but the network is down. I can no longer wait so I will leave. I will not be able to come back because I have wasted time already.”
Speaking to Citi News, Political party representatives, who had monitored the exercise have mixed views.
The NPP Research Officer for the Asawase Constituency, Mohammed Mubashir Idris, acknowledged network challenges on the first day but reported successful transfers.
“I must say it’s going on very well, just that we had some network challenges on [Thursday, May 30]. But at the end of the day, we were able to do 11 transfers. For now, I will say so far so good.”
Meanwhile, the NDC Director of Elections for the Asawase Constituency, Ben Abdallah, noted a low turnout for voter transfer, attributing it to the limited voter registration exercise and the provisional register not being released.
“With regards to the voter transfer, I think this limited voter registration exercise has witnessed a very large amount of people registering for the first time and according to the law regarding the limited voter registration, all those who were registered in the just-ended registration are not eligible for voter transfer up until the provisional register is released.