The Electoral Commission (EC) has outdoored a digital queue management system to tackle mass gathering at the various voter registration centres across the country.

In light of this, applicants can book a slot in a ‘priority queue’ anywhere they before they visit the premises to be registered.

This new development was announced by the Electoral Commission in a statement dated, Tuesday.

This comes after series of concerns over the disregard for social distancing protocols during the registration process .

The EC stated that the move was necessary to encourage the observance of safety protocols at the centres.

“The Electoral Commission is therefore introducing an additional technology tool for the ongoing registration exercise, the upcoming exhibition of the Voters Register and potentially for future elections, with the goal of further enhancing compliance with social distancing rules.”

“Following approval by the national COVID-19 management authorities, the national COVID-19 Tracking system has been confirmed as the channel for the new technology tool,” the statement said.

However, this technology is currently limited to certain voter registration centres in the Greater Accra region; Ayawaso West, Tema Metro, La Dadekotopon and Ga North.

All centres which fall within this areas have unique codes which must be indicated during the registration process.

 The new system, PanaBIOS, will be effective beginning Wednesday, 29th July 2020.

To obtain their slot, individuals must register by dialing a USSD code and the following the prompts.

To book a priority queue slot before visiting your local registration centre;

1. Dial *769#
2. Select option 3 (event management)
3. iii. Choose option 1 to “check in to event or venue
4. iv. Enter your registration centre code and wait for a text message with details of a slot in the priority queue at your local registration centre.

“Applicants with smartphone access can visit PanaBIOS.org to sign up for an account and follow the prompts for event registration to book a priority spot just in the same way that the USSD option works.”

“Applicants can also search for the registration centre codes on the same PanaBIOS platform. Plans are far advanced to make it possible for registration centre codes to be obtainable from the national COVID-19 hotline, 311, the EC’s website and through media publication,” the EC noted.

About PanaBIOS

PanoBIOS  (www.panabios.org) is a pan-African “safe reopening of countries” technology application developed as part of the African Union’s Open Corridor Initiative.

Ghana is a pioneer country in the development, testing and deployment of thePanaBIOS system through the country’s Trancop Initiative (www.trancop.org).

 PanaBIOS is the first reference model of the African Union’s Digital Biosurveillance, Bioscreening & Biosensing protocol (DABBIT).

Ghana’s Electoral Commission is the first electoral management bodies in the world to implement a digital decongestion protocol based on a bio screening standard for electoral purposes