The extension of the re-registration exercise for persons whose names were deleted as part of list of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) registrants begins on Friday.

The exercise, which runs from August 5 – 12, will take place in the 29,000 polling stations across the country.

It is expected that over 30,000 persons who were not able to register in the first phase of the exercise will cease the opportunity to do so.

The decision to extend the re-registration exercise which was in complaince of an order by the Supreme Court for the electoral roll to be purged of all NHIS registrants following a case in which the credibility of the voters’ register was challenged.

The Electoral Commission (EC) had rejected calls by civic society groups and political parties especially the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) to extend the exercise.

This led to the threat by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, Alexander Afenyo Markin to sue the Commission for disenfranchising many in his region.

Just when public pressure peaked, the EC convened an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting to announce the decision to give an opportunity for re-registration.

It also announced there will be a continuous registration exercise on two days namely 19th and 25th of August to give those who have never registered before a chance to get on the voters roll.

Persons seeking to replace their lost voters ID cards will go through a different process.

They will have to visit the district or regional office of the Commission to be verified and pay an amount of GHS5.00 before their lost or damaged ID card would be replaced.

The first phase of the exercise saw at least 24, 287 persons out of 56,772 NHIS registrants whose names were deleted captured on the register.