The Electoral Commission (EC) has registered 71,853 persons in the Upper East Region at the end of the first batch of phase one of the new voters’ registration exercise, provisional statistics from the regional office has revealed.

The provisional figures indicated that out of the total number of persons registered 32,905 were males while 38,948 were females spanning across all the 15 Municipalities and Districts in the region within the first six days of the exercise.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga, the Regional Director of the EC, William Obeng Adarkwa, explained that the Commission was able to register 12,334 and 15,431 persons on the first and second day of the exercise respectively.

He said on the third and fourth days of the exercise, 15,271 and 12,855 persons were captured respectively; the EC was able to register 8,785 and 7,177 persons on the fifth and sixth days of the exercise respectively.

The Regional Director noted that the first batch of phase one of the voter registration exercise which covered about 168 centres including mobile registration teams had been smooth devoid of any technical or physical challenges.

He said there was absolute cooperation among the EC, the applicants, and all other stakeholders in the electoral process during the first six days of the exercise.

As a result of the outbreak of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), the EC had put in place several recommended precautionary and safety protocols to ensure public health and safety.

He said ‘Veronica buckets” with and soap and tissue paper, as well as alcohol-based sanitizers, were provided at all the centres for applicants to wash and sanitize their hands before being attended to by the EC officials.

He said the registration officers were also provided with the necessary COVID-19 preventive items to ensure that they were safe while discharging their duties.

While commending both the security particularly the Ghana Police Service and the health professionals for their cooperation and support so far, the Regional Director urged members of the public who are of voting age and of sound mind to take part in the exercise.

Mr Adarkwa gave the assurance that the exercise was fast and strict COVID-19 measures would protect people from being infected with the Coronavirus.