During the limited voter registration exercise in the Asokore Mampong Municipality, several applicants resorted to spending the night at various registration centers.
This decision came after several days of unsuccessful attempts to complete their registrations.
These applicants found themselves in competition with political party agents who, in their bid to secure positions in the queue for their potential voters, resorted to using stones and other objects as makeshift placeholders.
As the clock ticked past 3 AM, and with the dawn light accompanied by increasing rainfall, the gates of the Electoral Commission’s Asokore Mampong office remained closed. However, outside the office, a unique scene unfolded.
Stones and chairs were meticulously arranged in a queue formation. Each stone symbolized an applicant, while the benches represented three or more people.
As time passed, some newcomers attempted to form a separate human queue, but this was met with resistance from those who had diligently maintained their positions using stones and chairs.
A branch women’s organizer for the NDC in Asawase Constituency, Seida Alhassan who was in the middle of the misunderstanding alleges, “I am a branch organizer for my political party. I am bringing my party members to register that is why I came this early to queue for them. I could have slept in my house. I was here when you brought your children to queue, I even offered seats for them, how do you come and skip our queue here?”
Numerous individuals are grappling with growing frustration, having invested hours waiting in queues since the commencement of the exercise.
For some applicants, their relentless dedication to queuing has stretched over a period of at least two days, and yet, they have not achieved their objective.
These applicants earnestly implore authorities to implement measures that can alleviate their mounting frustration and expedite the registration process.
“We have been quarreling since we got here at 4 am. I got the chance to register around 11 a.m. People are queuing with stones and benches. I have to find a way to jump the queue,” Mustapha Mohammed said.
Figures available to Joy News indicate the electoral commission is unable to meet the daily target of three hundred. About 80 applicants were registered on the first day.
On the second and third days of the exercise, the number of successful applicants remained under 300.
Meanwhile, the volume of applicants continues to surge, with interest groups pushing for an expansion of registration centers from the Electoral Commission. However, these efforts have not yet yielded the desired results.