The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) are divided over the need for the on-going voter’s registration exercise to be extended. While the NPP is in support of the extension, the NDC says no. Ms Hannah Tetteh, Communications Director of the NDC campaign team, told Joy FM’s Front Page that the extension would not be necessary, if the EC would not be able to provide the necessary materials for the exercise. She said the EC would be able to clear the backlog within the two days left for the exercise to end, if it deploys more officials to the electoral areas within the urban cities. According to the General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Ohene-Ntow, the extension is important because it would not be possible for the EC to register all eligible voters by the close of registration on Sunday. He also suggested to the EC to allow people who join queues before 6:00pm to register. John Larvie, Senior Programs Officer of the Centre for Democratic Development, said the EC should not extend the period. He blamed the problems confronting the exercise on the “bureaucracy of the Electoral Commission…things don’t get done smart enough.” He also cited time constraint for the December elections to back his argument. In a related development, the National Organizer of the NDC has questioned calls by the Ministry for Interior that the exercise should be extended. “The ministry should have left the EC to do proper consultation with the major stakeholders before coming in with that statement. “I feel that statement sort of create the impression that the ministry is trying to interfere with the exercise,” Mr. Ofosu Ampofo told Citi FM. He reiterated that the closing date should not be extended, since the situation is not a question of date but the availability of materials. “When the logistics and the facilities that are required to undertake the exercise are not there; you are calling for extension to do what?” He asked. Story by Isaac Essel