The Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, has said the ongoing limited voter registration process is proceeding smoothly despite the initial challenges.

He said all the initial challenges have been effectively addressed.

Dr Quaicoe emphasises significant improvements since the registration commenced on May 7, highlighting a marked enhancement in the system.

In an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Tuesday, May 14, he stated, “On the first day, we registered around 16,000 individuals. However, we are now processing over 40,000 registrations, indicating substantial progress. We projected to register around 623, 000 but as at the 6th day we had registered 251,000 which is more than one-third, so upon all the challenges the figures are speaking for themselves.”

He acknowledged that internet connectivity posed a significant challenge during the initial two days of registration, primarily due to online registration procedures.

Dr Quaicoe clarified that the online registration necessitates a direct link to the data center, facilitating real-time communication during the registration process. Offline registration, on the other hand, involves subsequent data upload to the center, thus delaying verification.

Dr Quaicoe emphasised the limitations of offline registration, particularly the inability to detect double registrations, prompting a preference for online processes among EC staff.

He further explained that offline registration is only resorted to in instances of connectivity issues, underscoring that registration processes historically involve a combination of online and offline methods, contingent upon connectivity availability

"So it is always the combination of online and offline depending on the availability of connectivity?.”

“Because of the poor internet in some areas, people can't register online, so they choose offline registration instead”he noted.