A fresh voters register, for which all qualified Ghanaian voters will be required to register anew, is to be compiled before the next general election in 2012. Mr David Adenze Kanga, the Deputy Chairman of the Electoral Commission, who dropped the hint, explained that with the National Population and Housing Census due next year, it made a lot of sense to review and possibly replace the voters register for Election 2012. Ghana's electoral regulations require the Electoral Commission to compile the register of voters and revise it at such periods as may be determined by law. The Registration of the Voters Public Elections (Registration Regulations, 1995 C.I. 12) empowers the Electoral Commission to review for possible replacement the voters register. The current register was reviewed in 2004. With the upcoming election in 2012, if the same register is used, it is likely to be ineffective, since the population may have increased or decreased. Currently, many population experts are questioning the national population census figure of between 22 and 23 million and a voters register of 12 million. On the voter population, the contention is that it is not possible to have an adult population of 50 per cent with an official national population of between 22 and 23 million. In last year's elections, over 8.5 million registered voters cast their vote in both the presidential and Parliamentary elections. With the current 12 million voter population; if 8.5 million voted, then it meant the turn-out was very high, some population experts have maintained. The experts argue that national planning is lopsided and not strategic because many people are left out in the coverage. They suggest that the mechanisms used in counting should be questioned as the next census approaches. "If the nation accepts that the adult population should not be 50 per cent or more, then we must sit up in order not to plan with wrong indicators," the experts have noted. Source: Daily Guide