The Inspector General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye, has pledged the Police administration’s support to assist the Electoral Commission successfully carry through its activities for the elections starting with the biometric registration exercise scheduled to begin next weekend. The EC is embarking on an exercise to register all eligible Ghanaian voters by the capturing of their biometric data, i.e. their ten fingers and a picture, for the compilation of a voters’ register to be used for the December 2012 polls. Speaking at a day’s training program to educate Police officers on the workings of the biometric register, the IGP said the Police and its sister agencies are working on providing a congenial environment for the December polls. He noted that the decision to roll out a biometric register “at this time, is a step in the right direction” adding the exercise will “not only serve as an answer to perceived threats of electoral disputes, but also establishing confidence in the electorates thereby causing them to respect and obey the rules and regulations governing the entire electioneering process”. The IGP indicated the biometric exercise will remove all doubts and suspicions some persons may have concerning the registration process. He was also confident the adoption of the biometric register will go a long way to help deal with some security challenges such as suspicions, human error and other voter irregularities associated with elections. He stated the Police administration’s preparedness to assist with investigations into irregularities that may occur during the registration period. The knowledge gained from the training program according to the IGP, will be replicated in all regions, districts and if possible at the various Police stations across the country to bring all Police personnel up to speed on the biometric register. He thus appealed the EC to help train Police personnel in not only the workings of the biometric register but also in other election security related issues. Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan in his remarks, urged every eligible Ghanaians to take part in the upcoming registration exercise since it will replace all existing voters’ registers. “For purposes of this registration, we’re behaving like nobody ever voted in Ghana” he said to drive home the need for all eligible persons to participate in the exercise. He also charged the Police officers to focus on registration offences since they have the power to prosecute persons who breach any election regulation. The nationwide voters’ registration exercise will start on March 24 and last for 40 days. Some 45,000 personnel from the Electoral Commission will be manning the 7,000 registration kits at 23,000 polling stations across the country. Ghana| Joy News TV