Some 423, 802 people registered in the first phase of the ongoing voter registration exercise across the Ashanti Region as of July 5, 2020.

The exercise which is in the second phase has also seen eligibility of 530 applicants challenged, pending review by Electoral Commission District Officers.

It comes as the EC introduces a new queue management regime to control the numbers at centres in order to address breach of Covid-19 protocols.

Females constitute 52.9 percent of the numbers while men account for 47 percent.

Majority of applicants; 71.3 per cent, presented the Ghana Card as proof of eligibility, 27 per cent by guarantor and passport, 1.7 percent.

Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission, Benjamin Baah Bio explained that 530 applicants were challenged and will be attended to by the District Registration Review Committees to determine the cases.

"If the person goes through, the ID card will be given to him or her. But if it doesn't go through, he will be disqualified and his details will be deleted from the electoral roll," he told Luv FM's Erastus Asare Donkor.

Observance of Covid-19 safety protocols remains a widespread challenge. Though officials at some centres are complying with the new directive to keep 150 applicants per centre at a time, others are hardly able to control the numbers.

An argument over the eligibility of this woman at one of the centres saw what a drift in social distancing protocols means. Mr Baah Bio attributes it to a few recalcitrant applicants.

"Even places where people have registered and have their cards, when we ask them to go home they stand at the periphery watching what is going on. We ask them that we don't want that... And when people are not within the registration area and are gathered somewhere, you cannot go as an election official to disperse them because they are standing there on their own."