The Electoral Commission will on Monday, October 2, 2023, bring to an end its limited voter registration exercise.

The exercise, which started on September 12 has encountered some challenges such as some registrants having to travel from long distances to the EC's district offices, faulty machines, and minor disagreements at some locations.

Due to the above highlighted challenges, some first-time voters will not be captured in the electoral roll.

They, therefore, cannot participate in the district-level election either as voters or candidates.

The EC however says it will not extend the registration and that those not captured may have to wait for the mass registration next year ahead of the 2024 general election.

The political parties are unhappy with the posture adopted by the electoral body.

A Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mustapha Gbande, has urged the Commission to consider individuals who have travelled long distances to the district capital for registration.

“What is very difficult for which we as a political party expect that the Electoral Commission will resolve has to do with the people who have currently moved from their location and are in the district capital for days as a result of the queues and pressure and they intend to register. It is just fair that they are in the queue so even if the exercise ends provisions should be made for those people in the queue to get registered,” he said.

However, the Director of Research and Elections for the New Patriotic Party, Evans Nimako, stated that the EC has the right to stay within the timeline if it is within the armbit of the law.

According to him, if the EC is not operating within the ambit of the law, available options can be explored.

The EC has already stated that without parliament passing its new Constitutional Instrument, C.I., it could not extend the registration offices beyond its district offices, a position the NDC and some opposition parties disagreed with.