Final draft ideg observation-report_voter-reg-ex 2008 1

REPORT ON IDEG OBSERVATION OF THE VOTER

REGISTRATION EXERCISE - 2008

31ST JULY – 12TH AUGUST 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE

Acknowledgement 4 Executive Summary 5

SECTION I

1. Introduction 9 2. Why voter registration matter/Relevance of voter registration 9 3. Recruitment and training 10

3.1 Trainer-of-Trainers programme 11 4. Field deployments and coverage 12

4.1 Deployment challenges 12 4.2 Observation communication centre 12

SECTION II

5. General findings 13 5.1 Nature of the registration exercise 13 5.2 Registration infrastructure 13 5.3 Provisional results 14 5.4 What worked well 16 5.5 What went wrong 18

5.5.1 Shortage of registration materials 19 5.5.2 Inadequate registration centres 20 5.5.3 Unsuitable registration locations 20 5.5.4 Interference by party agents 21 5.5.5 Underage registration 21 5.5.6 Double/multiple registration 23 5.5.7 Other minor problems 24

6. Regional peculiarities 27 6.1 Greater Accra 27 6.2 Central 28 6.3 Eastern 28 6.4 Northern 28 6.5 Upper east 28 6.6 Volta 29 6.7 Western 29

7. Summary of findings 30 8. Recommendations 30

8.1 Immediate 31 8.2 Medium term 33 8.3 Future 33

SECTION III

9. Analysis of checklist 34 10. Annex 43

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

CC Camera Crew

CDD Centre for Democracy and Development

CODEO Coalition of Domestic Elections Observers

CPP Convention People’s Party

CSOs Civil Society Organisations

DCE District Chief Executive

EC Electoral Commission

GIFNET Governance Issues Forum Networks

HITI High Information Technology Institute

ID Identification card

IDEG Institute for Democratic Governance

JHS Junior High School

MP Member of Parliament

NDC National Democratic congress

NGOs Non Governmental Organizations

NHIS National Health Insurance Service

NPP New Patriotic Party

PNC People’s National Convention

RA Registration Assistants

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Acknowledgement

The observation of the voters’ registration exercise is part of the 2008 Elections Project which

was designed by the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) with the aim of contributing to

the conduct of peaceful and credible elections, and securing national cohesion. Observation of

the limited voters’ registration exercise required substantial resources both human and financial.

The IDEG is grateful to the Dutch Embassy for funding this activity as part of its support for the

2008 Elections Project. The Institute further wishes to register its appreciation to Mr. Safo

Kantanka - Deputy Chairman of the EC (Operations), and Mr. Okrah of the EC’s Training

Department who served as resource persons during the training of the volunteers who observed

the exercise.

Furthermore, the Institute acknowledges the volunteers, the rank and file of its staff and all

others whose efforts contributed to the success of the exercise.

This report was compiled under the leadership of Mr. Kwesi Jonah (Research Fellow of IDEG)

with valuable contributions from Mr. Peter Fiamor (Senior Research Officer, IDEG), Mr. Douglas

Quartey (Information Management Officer, IDEG) and Mr. Ishmael Wireko (Research Assistant,

IDEG).

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Between 31st July and 12 August 2008 the Institute for Democratic Governance IDEG

conducted an observation of the 2008 voter registration exercise. To ensure a focused and

effective observation IDEG deployed an observation team comprising 220 Ghanaians who were

deployed into 25 constituencies located in seven out of Ghana’s ten administrative regions

where IDEG maintains Governance Issues Forum Networks (GIFNET).

Notwithstanding initial challenges such as the unwillingness of some district election officers to

accept the EC’s observers ID cards as adequate and difficulty in accessing registration centres

in remote areas, IDEG observers stayed in the field to observe the exercise for the entire 13-day

duration.

In the end IDEG observers were able to establish that though the voters’ registration exercise

did not go well as expected it had some positive features.

The first was the dedicated registration officers. Though they are not permanent employees of

the Electoral Commission, the great majority of them remained dedicated to their work in the

face of the numerous challenges confronting them.

The second was the extraordinary interest stakeholders showed in the registration exercise.

Party agents, parliamentary candidates, party executives, DCEs and some assembly members

demonstrated a very high level of interest in the exercise.

The Ghanaian media deserve special mention for their effective role in keeping the registration

exercise under close public scrutiny. The main disappointment came from independent

observers. Apart from IDEG, few other observers were encountered at the registration centres.

On the whole, however, the voter registration exercise itself did not go as well as expected. Far

more people registered than was estimated; people who are not qualified to vote under

Ghanaian law registered, some people who registered could not be issued with their voter ID

cards, and some eligible voters did not get the opportunity to register.

The most fundamental problems that marred the 2008 registration exercise, in order of national

importance were:

i. Shortage of registration materials.

ii. Inadequate registration centres.

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iii. Unsuitable location of registration centres.

iv. Interference of party agents.

v. Underage registration.

vi. Double or multiple registrations.

Other minor problems were:

Alien registration.

Lack of peace and security.

Lack of identification for registration staff.

Party affiliation of some registration officers.

To ensure that the voters’ register is clean and fit for the December elections, IDEG proposes

that the EC should in the:

Immediate-term i. Enter into collaboration with a broad range of civil society organizations, traditional

authorities and the media to devise technically feasible strategies to clean the register.

ii. Institute the appropriate machinery for investigating the 7,374 complaints that have been

filed in connection with the voters’ registration exercise, especially in the Brong Ahafo

and Ashanti Regions where about 70 per cent of the complaints was recorded.

iii. Give adequate publicity to the exhibition of the voters register due to take place from 5-

11 October 2008 so that members of the public will not only be able verify their names

but also help with the cleaning of the register by raising legitimate objections to the

inclusion of names that legally should not be in the register.

iv. Ensure that effective security is provided for the exhibition of the voters register in

October to guarantee adequate protection for the register, exhibition officers, observers

and citizens.

v. Take steps to get Exhibition Officers and other EC staff as well as party agents and

observers to be appropriately identified by photo IDs issued by the EC.

vi. Train party agents at exhibition and polling stations not to obstruct or interfere with the

work of EC staff.

vii. Appeal to all who have registered more than once to voluntarily surrender the additional

cards to the EC in exchange for a pardon and immunity from prosecution.

viii. Appeal to parents, political parties, faith-based organisations, and traditional authorities,

as a matter of patriotism and national duty, to persuade their children, members and

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others who may have engaged in double registration to voluntarily surrender their

additional cards to the nearest District Elections Officer.

ix. Institute urgent measures to address the problems of material shortages and inadequate

number of registration centres before the next registration exercise in 2010.

x. Institute more stringent procedures for selecting and supervising temporary staff who are

engaged for voting, registration and exhibition exercises.

xi. Consider the adoption of better equipment such as high speed digital cameras capable

of handling many people within a very short time.

xii. Adopt a policy of ensuring gender balance among registration exhibition and voting staff

so that the example of Binduri constituency (Upper East) where there was a significant

number of women registration staff will become a national model.

xiii. Pay more attention to the party associations of its potential employees for elections,

voters’ registration and exhibition exercises.

xiv. Advise registration staff not to engage non-EC staff including observers in the

performance of official EC duties.

xv. Advise registration staff to handle more courteously cases of suspected alien registration

to avoid embarrassing foreigners who have acquired Ghanaian citizenship.

Medium-term

In the medium-term (3-5years) Ghana should be moving toward a continuous registration

exercise based on biometric technology. This means Ghanaians should be able to register as

voters, anytime they turn eighteen and their finger prints should be the most reliable form of

identification to eliminate the problem of multiple registration and cumbersome 10 to 12 day

registration exercise every two years.

The immediate cost of continuous biometric registration may be huge but its long-term cost-

effectiveness in terms of money, time, labour, energy and reliability is not in doubt. The

production of a clean Voters’ Register devoid of multiple entries of voters is in itself adequate

justification for any cost that may be entailed in continuous biometric registration. In addition, the

challenges that voters’ registration exercises pose for voters, registration officers, party agents,

parliamentary candidates, and party executives and to a limited extent observers, media and

security personnel will be substantially reduced.

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These proposals have several implications for the EC in particular, and for the Government of

Ghana and development partners. The government and its development partners should help

the EC with the following:

• Financial support for the procurement of biometric equipment for registration;

• Financial assistance to expand and reinforce the EC’s human resource base to ensure

continuous biometric registration;

• Capacity building to operate and maintain biometric equipment;

• Logistical support to apply biometric equipment throughout Ghana.

Near Future

Before the District Assembly Elections of 2010 another round of voters registration exercise will

be conducted which means that the next limited registration exercise is less than two years

away. It will be most helpful for the EC to hold a week-end retreat for political parties and CSO’s

to do a thorough review of the 2008 registration exercise with the objective of ensuring a better

managed registration in 2010. Fortunately, registration for district level election, which is not

based on political parties, usually encounters far fewer problems than registration for

Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, the benefits from workshop or retreat

for political parties, civil society organizations and other stakeholders to review the 2008

registration will be immense.

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SECTION I 1. INTRODUCTION

The Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG) mounted an observation of the limited voter

registration exercise conducted by the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana between 31st July

and 12th August 2008 in seven of the ten administrative regions.1 The exercise which forms part

of IDEG’s elections project titled: Sustaining Credible Elections, Peace and National Cohesion

under the Institute’s Elections, Public Policy and Accountability Programme. The project has

three main components namely: Credible Elections, Peace and Anti-violence and National

Cohesion. The Election observation exercise constitutes the first major activity under the

Credible Election component. The Credible Elections component comprises a series of activities

to promote free, fair and transparent election 2008. The peace and anti-violence activities are

geared towards ensuring peace before, during and after election 2008. The national cohesion

track is designed to ensure that the unity and integrity of the nation remains intact and

unimpaired whatever the outcome of the election 2008.

2. WHY VOTER REGISTRATION MATTERS/RELEVANCE OF VOTER REGISTRATION

The voter registration exercise is a matter of strategic political importance to Ghana’s electoral

democracy for a number of reasons.

First, the right to vote and the associated entitlement to register to do so is guaranteed by the

Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana:

Consequently, the number one function of the EC assigned by the constitution is “to compile the

register of voters and revise it at such periods as may be determined by law” (Article 45a).

Secondly, a credible Voters Register whose integrity is above board and enjoys the respect of

all key players in an electoral democracy such as Ghana’s, is considered an essential first step

towards credible elections whilst a flawed register is an excellent recipe for flawed elections.

This is a basic fact on which all advocates of democracy agree and will defend at all times.

Election observers in particular uphold this principle in the course of executing their observation

activities.

1 These were: Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East, Volta and Western Regions.

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There is yet another cause to attach importance to the voter registration exercise, and that is the

huge burden on the Ghanaian tax payer arising from the exercise. The original estimated cost of

Ghana’s election 2008 is in the region of GH¢42.6 million and a substantial portion of this,

almost one-sixth or GH¢6.9 million would be sunk into the limited registration exercise alone.

There is every good reason for Ghanaians to demand good value for money.

3. RECRUITMENT AND TRAINING

The first stage in IDEG’s observation process was the recruitment and training of observers. An

open advertisement in the Ghanaian media was followed by competitive interviews through

which an initial team of 25 observation supervisors was recruited. The vast majority of them

were either young graduates or graduate students from Ghanaian Universities.

A total of one hundred and ninety-four (194) field volunteers majority of whom were members of

the IDEG Governance Issues Forum Network (GIFNET) were subsequently recruited in 25

constituencies. IDEG maintained the Governance Issues Networks (GIFNET)2 for the

observation. In the main, these volunteers were also professional teachers, graduate teachers,

journalists, development workers, and polytechnic graduates.

Two types of training were offered; trainer-of-trainers programme for the 25 observation

supervisors who in turn conducted regional training for volunteers under them. The key

advantage underlying the two-tier training is that volunteers from the same region working in

similar conditions could discuss and share ideas on common problems and challenges.

3.1 Trainer-of-Trainers Programme

2 These are networks through which IDEG trains local people to engage with policy makers in several districts using the deliberative dialogue methodology.

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A whole-day trainer-of-trainers programme was organized at IDEG on July 26 for 25 Volunteers

and IDEG staff. The one-stop session was supervised by the Deputy Chairman of EC Mr. Safo

Kantanka who was the principal resource person. The other resource persons were Mr. Okrah,

Head Training Department (EC), and Mr. Kwesi Jonah, Scholar in Residence (IDEG). The

training modules covered the rules, regulations and processes governing voters registration in

Ghana; correct voting procedures; election issues in Ghana; practical training in the application

of checklists during elections and voter registration exercise; and the incidence of rejected ballot

papers, its scale, causes and solutions. These modules were carefully chosen to reflect the

broader Credible Elections Programme of IDEG:

(i) Observation of the Registration Exercise 2008

(ii) Combating the Rejected Ballot problem

(iii) Observation of Counting of Ballots, collation, declaration and transmission of results.

The main tools/training instruments employed in the training were:

• Legislation on Elections and Voter Registration

• Observation Checklists

• Presentations of Resource Persons

• Practical Demonstrations

• Training manuals

By the end of the day-long training, supervisors had been exposed to:

• The Legal basis of voter’s registration;

• Extent of the problem of rejected ballots;

• Correct Voting Procedures;

• Issues in Ghana’s Election 2008;

• What and How to observe in elections and voters registration exercise;

• How observers should conduct themselves;

• Reporting on Observation;

• Note taking; and

• Types of Observation.

The training programme was participatory and interactive and supervisors were equipped to

conduct a similar training for field volunteers in the regions.

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4. FIELD DEPLOYMENTS AND COVERAGE

IDEG deployed altogether 219 observers comprising 25 supervisors and 194 volunteers in 25

constituencies and seven administrative regions of Ghana.3 The constituencies were chosen

from administrative districts where IDEG maintains Governance Issues Forum Networks

(GIFNETS).

4.1 Deployment Challenges

Each observer was issued with a picture ID by the EC and subsequently IDEG’s letters of

introduction were forwarded to all of them. In spite of these precautionary measures observers

encountered initial difficulties in the field mainly emanating from some District Election Officers

who, in addition, wanted direct notification from EC headquarters in Accra or at least individual

letters of introduction from the EC headquarters in Accra.

In remote parts of the country, some registration centres were not easily accessible due to poor

roads and transport services. By way of compensation however, IDEG observers enjoyed

substantial goodwill of registration officers and party agents who welcomed them as Godsent

partners in the rather challenging job of voter registration.

4.2 Observation Communication Centre

To keep track of IDEG observers and ensure a constant flow of feedback from the field, an

Observation Communication Centre was set up within the Research and Information Unit of

IDEG under the direct control of Mr. Douglas Quartey, IDEG Information Officer. The main

purpose of the centre was to receive field reports and address challenges. It was the

observation communication centre that made it possible to address initial challenges observers

faced in the field.

SECTION II

5. GENERAL FINDINGS

3 Please see annex for a breakdown of the constituencies in the 7 administrative regions.

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5.1 Nature of the Registration Exercise

The voter registration exercise of July-August 2008 was a limited operation, in that, it was not

meant for a general registration of Ghanaians. Registration was opened to give Ghanaians who

had attained 18 years since the last limited registration of 2006, the opportunity to register to

vote. Ghanaians who could not register in the past, regardless of age, could also avail

themselves of the opportunity to register. Further, the registration exercise was not intended to

replace lost voter identification (ID) cards. The EC had conducted and completed an exercise to

replace lost voter ID’s, weeks before the limited registration exercise.

It is quite evident from field observation that a large number of Ghanaians did not understand

the nature of the limited registration exercise as many of those who had lost or misplaced their

voter ID’s turned up to register again. Many of them who were detected were persuaded to fill a

Voter ID replacement form. Those who were not detected might have registered again resulting

in double registration.

5.2 Registration Infrastructure

A total of 2500 registration centres were mounted to serve people from approximately 22,000

polling stations in Ghana. Several polling stations had to use one registration centre. To serve

all areas, each registration team comprising at least four (4) officers – one Presiding Officer, one

Registration Assistant, one Camera Operator and one Laminator had to rotate among the few

centres serving a whole electoral area, spending a few days in each centre. Therefore, the

registration exercise lasted thirteen days but not all thirteen days were spent at a centre. Each

centre was served for only a few days.

Apart from the registration officers, party agents mainly from the two dominant political parties

NPP and NDC were present at each registration centre. It has not been a common practice to

provide stationary security personnel at each registration centre. Security personnel might be

called in as and when needed and various organizations were also free to apply for permission

from the EC to observe the exercise.

The registration materials essential for each station included

• Registration Form 1A

• Pens

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• Pencils

• Indelible ink

• Printing sheets

• Scissors

• Cameras

• Camera films

• Camera Batteries

• Rollers

• Laminating Cards

• Laminates

Inadequate supplies or shortages of registration materials can and did slow down, halt or disrupt

registration. In the end, the outcome of a good registration exercise is, to a large extent,

dependent upon a good combination of efficient registration officers and an adequate supply of

working materials.

5.3 Provisional Results

Provisional results of the registration exercise indicate that far more people registered than the

numbers estimated by the EC. This has raised serious concerns that the register that would

come out of the registration would be inevitably bloated. Of equal concern is the fact that IDEG

field observation indicates that the number of persons nineteen years and above who registered

was far in excess of 18 year olds who turned up. It was also evident that a lot more men

registered than women.

Provisional EC figures indicate that 1,835,4174 new names have found their way into the

register with the highest registration in Ashanti which recorded 374,451 followed by Greater

Accra 340,694 and Eastern region 186,708 as reflected in figure 1. If Brong Ahafo, 186,604 is

added then only four regions would account for close to 60 per cent of total registration. From all

indications it is not only the national figure which may be bloated, all regional figures to a certain

extent appear bloated as well. A trend analysis of the actual figures registered in the limited

registration exercise between 1996 and 2008 is also provided in figure 2. 4 This figure is equivalent to 290.4% of the 632,087 figure obtained in the limited registration exercise of 2006.

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Figure 1: Provisional Registration Results

Data Source: Research & Monitoring Department, EC

The provisional figures are even more shocking in the light of the EC’s own estimate that

between 600,000 and 1,000,000 new voters were expected to enter the register in 2008. The

new figure if added to the existing register (2006) containing 10,987,057 names will give a new

total voting population of 12,822,474 representing 16.7 per cent increase in the registered

voters. This is also an abnormal increase. In 2006 only 6.10 per cent increase was recorded

over the 2004 registration and in 2002 only 4.44 per cent increase occurred over 2000

registration.

An erroneous impression current in some political circles is that somehow the number of

complaints and challenges filed at various registration centres, if scrupulously investigated,

could result in some significant reduction in the number of registered voters. The total number of

challenges, 7374 is not particularly high and even if all challenges were upheld no substantial

decrease in the voters register would result from that angle.

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Figure 2: Voter Registration Statistics on Limited Registration Exercise

Data Source: Research & Monitoring Department, EC

5.4 What Worked Well

The widespread criticism that met the reported lapses in the limited registration exercise of July

– August 2008 has unduly obscured the relatively more positive aspects of the exercise in the

minds of the Ghanaian public. For many the exercise was a flop and nothing good could come

out of it. Two very positive underpinnings of the process have as a consequence gone

unnoticed, namely, the largely hardworking and dedicated registration officers and the keen

interest some stakeholders demonstrated in the exercise.

Generally, the EC does not maintain permanent staff for voting and registration, thus temporary

staff engaged and trained must be really committed to ensure the success of election and

registration. On the whole the great majority of registration officers remained committed and

dedicated to their work. Many had no transport and had to carry their own registration materials

over long distances to their centres and from one centre to another. Many stayed at post from

7am to 6:00pm and many were taunted, insulted and even subjected to violent attacks from

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angry persons waiting in long queues for their turn to register. Some had no suitable furniture

and nearly all were at one time or another compelled to endure long delays in their work from

the incessant wrangling of quarrelling party agents and yet many a registration officer endured

and even enjoyed their work. Whatever limited success the exercise achieved is attributable to

the hardworking and dedicated registration officers. The really bad nuts were few and far

between.

What kept the exercise under close public scrutiny, however, was the extraordinary interest

various stakeholders showed in the exercise, notably party agents from the NPP and the NDC

but in a few places CPP and PNC as well. Some MP’s, DCE’s, Parliamentary candidates,

Assembly members and party executives also deserve a pat on the back for spending time to

visit registration centres.

By far the strongest interest elicited in the process came from the various media houses. Media

houses such as GTV, TV3, TV Africa, Metro TV, NET 2, GNA, Ghanaian Times and Daily

Graphic covered and reported on the exercise in the various regions.

Regional media houses also played very positive roles in covering events at registration

centres. In the Western region Kyzz FM, Rock FM, Melody FM, Skyy FM and SKyy TV were

very active as also was the Daily Guide correspondent for Takoradi. In Central region IDEG

observers encountered several regional media at various registration centres, among them YES

FM, Ahomka Radio, Radio Central and ATL FM. Peace FM, Adom FM, Oman FM, Citi FM,

Eastern FM and Sunrise radio covered the Eastern region quite extensively while Volta FM was

active in the Volta region. In Accra Joy FM, Citi, Peace and indeed all the media houses

maintained an extraordinarily strong interest in the exercise.

In sharp contrast to the media and politicians, independent observers showed relatively little

interest in the registration exercise. IDEG observers were spread in seven out of Ghana’s ten

administrative regions but encountered too few observers in too few places spending very little

time at registration centres. The British High Commission and Reuters News Agency did well to

observe the exercise but the most frequently seen were the CDD Ghana, Christian Council of

Ghana and CODEO. In the Volta region the Civic Union, Carter Centre and British High

Commission were prominent observers. Perhaps the most prominent visitor in the Volta region

was Chairman of the EC Dr. Afari Gyan who toured Ho and surrounding constituencies to

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observe problems at first hand. Enus Company Limited, suppliers of the cameras used for the

registration were also in the Volta region to check on the performance of the cameras. Apart

from IDEG, other observers such as CDD Ghana, Christian Council of Ghana, CODEO, FADNU

Foundation - a local NGO and Kristo Asafo were encountered in the various constituencies of

the Eastern region.

On the whole independent observers failed to appreciate the critical importance of the

registration exercise for credible elections. They generally did not pay the 2008 limited

registration exercise the degree of attention it deserved. Other election related activities have so

far eclipsed the voter registration exercise in terms of the time, energy and resources

independent institutions and organizations have allocated election 2008. This imbalance will

need to be redressed when the register produced from the registration is put up for exhibition.

5.5 What Went Wrong

In the immediate aftermath of the July-August 2008 limited registration exercise both the media

and other observers tended to catalogue a large number of short-comings of the exercise.

There was neither weighting nor ranking and virtually no differentiation between challenges

faced, their causes and consequences. Under the circumstances, problems that affected only a

few centres, constituencies, and regions were blown out of all proportion or presented as

nationwide and thus tracing the cause-effect chain became virtually impossible.

The most fundamental problems that plagued the recent registration exercise in order of

national importance were;

i. Shortage of registration materials;

ii. Inadequate registration centres;

iii. Unsuitable location of registration centres;

iv. Interference of party agents;

v. Underage registration; and

vi. Double/multiple registration

5.5.1 Shortage of registration materials

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Of the various materials required for the registration exercise the one whose shortage

undermined the progress and success of the exercise was the Form 1A Scannable

registration form. Shortage of this form, in many places brought the exercise to a halt. No

shortage was recorded in most places within the first few days of the exercise due to initial

slow response from eligible voters. Within three days, some centres began to experience

serious shortages and after six to seven days there was a general shortage of registration

forms throughout the centres.

The immediate consequences of the shortage showed in the slow-down of registration, long

queues and ultimately, total stoppage. Most centres recorded between three and four days

of zero registration because of shortage of form 1A. On paper, the registration exercise

lasted thirteen days but actually few centres worked more than nine to ten days. Eligible

voters in long queues became easily irritable, and confrontation among themselves and with

registration officers became common occurrences. The main underlying cause of the

shortage was the unanticipated huge turn-out.

The EC had actually exhausted all of its stock of Form 1A produced for the registration

exercise 2008. The only forms available for use were 1992 unscannable registration forms

used in training the officers for the 2008 registration exercise. These were quickly distributed

to the centres but could not be used to take the photo ID. Thus, the information on the

unscannable forms will have to be transferred unto scannable forms before affected

registered voters can have their photo ID cards.

EC cameras were the second most important source of problems with regards to registration

materials. Some centres had faulty cameras while others ran out of films for cameras and

photo fix. The common recurring problem however, was with the battery for the camera

which ran down very quickly. The explanation was that as a consequence of the busy use of

cameras the battery required a twelve hour overnight charging. Most Camera operators did

not adhere to this charging rule and most centres had no source of electricity. In some

Northern constituencies, it is alleged that, prospective voters were requested to contribute to

buy batteries for the cameras if they wanted their pictures taken the same day. The

combined effect of camera problems and shortages of Form 1A was to prolong registration

time, create longer queues and in the end create a large stockpile of unprocessed

registration forms.

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5.5.2 Inadequate registration centres

With approximately 22,000 polling stations in Ghana but only 2,500 workstations for the

recent registration exercise it was obvious that one centre would have to serve many polling

stations or a number of electoral areas. An original proposal to double the number of

workstations would have almost doubled the budget as this would have required doubling

the personnel and equipment. Each registration team had to move round a number of

centres spending only a few days out of the total of thirteen days at each station. Sometimes

before prospective voters at one centre had finished registration the team would have

moved to the next centre. The crowd had no choice but to follow the team and swell the

numbers at the next centre. As teams moved farther and farther away from unregistered

voters it became increasingly difficult and frustrating chasing after registration. Some eligible

voters, no doubt, missed out on registration as a result. Adequate workstations would have

eased the burden of walking long distances to register.

In the end inadequate centres placed enormous strain on prospective voters and

Registration Officers. Registration Officers who could not stand the pressure accepted

assistance from party agents, observers and even people who had completed their

registration procedures. Some IDEG observers might have helped out with lamination and

cutting of pictures. This assistance though might be illegal, the fact remains that registration

centres and officers were too few to cope with the load of registration.

5.5.3 Unsuitable registration locations

Many registration centres were virtually in open air facilities with very little or no shelter with

some actually under trees. This slowed-down the pace of the registration and in some cases

even temporarily halted registration in several ways. At such centres whenever it rained

heavily, registration had to stop. Even under clear skies access to a source of electricity to

charge batteries or feed the printer was a problem for some of the centres. Since

registration coincided with the minor rainy season and batteries ran down frequently the

registration exercise in many places could be anything but fast and efficient.

5.5.4 Interference by party agents

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Party agents at polling stations interfered unnecessarily with the registration exercise. The

NPP and NDC were the only parties that consistently maintained agents at every

registration centre. Invariably the two parties challenged each other about everything

including suspected cases of underage, alien or non-resident and multiple registrations. The

challenge usually ended in one of the party agents either filling a complaint or challenge

form or through amicable settlement. There were however, a few cases of settlement

through collusion, in that, one agent would allow a suspected case of underage registration

to go unchallenged if the prospective voter belonged to an agent’s party. To balance, the

other agent would be allowed to do the same. The colloquial expression for this collusion

was “you do, I do” meaning “if I allow one case of illegal registration you should allow me to

do the same”.

The underlying cause of the constant interference of agents in the process was the strong

desire not to allow one party to gain any advantage over the other. However, in the end the

effect was to inconvenience the prospective voters in the queues as challenge by parties

sometimes held up the registration exercise by up to half hour.

5.5.5 Underage Registration

Of all the problems encountered in the 2008 limited registration exercise the most frequently

reported and one that was popular with the media and observers was underage registration

(i.e. . the registration of persons who had not attained the legal minimum age of 18 years),

which surfaced in several forms.

The first involved cases of persons who were not 18 years at the time of registration but

would be 18 years before voting day, December 7, 2008. The official position of the EC is

that a voter should be 18 on the day of registration. Practically various registration centres

were very inconsistent. Some registered persons in this category without argument, others

registered them after long arguments between NPP and NDC agents and a few were not

registered at all.

The second type involved people who by their physical appearance appeared to be under

18 years. The cases challenged were resolved in one of two ways. Parents of the suspected

underage children either provided birth certificates or NHIS cards to prove the age or

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convinced registration officers to register them. In other cases the affected children simply

left the centre and did not return.

There was a third type in which a child’s class in school was used to challenge stated age.

In this case a child’s class in school was used as evidence of underage prospective voter. In

general, Junior High School children, even if, in JHS 3 were deemed to be under 18years.

Some parents provided concrete evidence of age while some children gave up and did not

register.

In cases where no other solution was found, the suspected underage child was registered

and a party agent would complete a complaint or challenge form. On the whole however,

there is reason to believe that cases of underage registration were exaggerated by media

reports. In the entire registration exercise a total of 7,374 complaints, mostly about underage

registration were filed. This is less than three complaints or challenges per each of the 2500

registration centres. Even more significant, is the fact that complaints filed in general and

specifically about underage registration were not as widespread as reported but confined to

Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions, not covered by IDEG observers. Out of the total 7,374

complaints filed 4,923 came from only two regions – Ashanti and Brong Ahafo. This means

over 70% of complaints came from 20 per cent of regions.

It is also significant that of a total number of 1,835,417 voters registered in the 2008

exercise only 7,374 cases (approximately 0.40 per cent) attracted recorded complaints or

challenges. Given that most complaints concerned underage registration the problem does

not appear to be very significant. Moreover, observer checklist and media reports tend to

capture underage registration but not the eventual resolution. Produced below is the table of

challenges filed in the 2008 registration exercise.

Table 1: Challenges/Complaints filed in 2008 voter registration exercise by regions

% challenged over total registration

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Region Number

Western 295 0.16

Central 141 0.10

Greater Accra 646 0.19

Volta 189 0.12

Eastern 788 0.42

Ashanti 3591 0.96

Brong Ahafo 1332 0.71

Northern 290 0.19

Upper East 9 0.01

Upper West 93 0.21

Total 7374 0.40 Data Source: Research & Monitoring Department, EC

5.5.6 Double/Multiple registration

More than underage registration the real problem of the 2008 registration exercise was

double or multiple registrations. Contrary to popular belief, this did not take the form of

people moving from one registration centre to the other to register more than once.

The two most common forms of double registration involved registered voters who on

their own registered again either in the same or nearby registration centre. The second

involved registered voters who were ‘bused’ not by political parties but by particular

parliamentary candidates or their agents across constituencies and even regions to

register in their home town constituencies even though they were registered and always

voted in their town of residence. This is non-resident registration and in all cases the

effect was the same, bloating of the register, but the motivation was very different.

Some of the MP’s alleged to be behind the double/multiple registrations did this primarily

to increase the support base in their constituencies ahead of election 2008. The

assumption is that it is easier and better to register again than to transfer one’s vote

which is considered to be a rather cumbersome procedure usually with uncertain

outcome. In any case the material incentive is always too good for registered voters to

resist.

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Some people registered again because they had lost or misplaced their old voter ID,

photo looked old and defaced and no longer nice to them etc. In some instances, people

registered again because the Voter ID is now used for multiple transactional purposes. It

is now the most recognised and acceptable form of ID for all kinds of transactions. In the

estimation of many Ghanaians it is easier to acquire one on the spot than to apply for a

new one from the EC.

The major evidence that gives cause to suspect double or multiple registration is the

large proportion of people 19 years and above who registered during the period. In

almost all constituencies and regions there were far fewer 18 year olds at the registration

centres than older people. Those 19 years old and above were the ones who mainly

registered. Few concrete examples include: Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar constituency in the

Eastern Region where a total of 3,389 people were registered but only 774 were 18

years old; Zebilla constituency in the Upper East region where - 3,864 people registered

but only 1,302 were 18 years old. Hohoe North constituency Volta region - a total of

8,926 registered but only 3,500 were recorded to be 18 years old in all the centres. By

far double or multiple registrations was a much bigger problem in the 2008 registration

exercise than underage children. In other words adults not children were the problem.

5.5.7 Other Minor Problems

Although there were reported cases of alien registration as well as violence and security

concerns, these were blown out of proportion.

• Alien registration

A few cases of alien registration turned out not to be alien registration after all. Skin

colour, names and other irrelevant criteria such as inability to speak English were used

to determine nationality. In the end, most alleged aliens turned out to be genuine

Ghanaian citizens or foreigners who genuinely thought the voter’s registration was the

National Identification Authority registration of citizens. Party agents were ignorant of

citizenship by naturalization and of the fact that some Ghanaians could have parents

with different nationalities which entitled them to Ghanaian citizenship. A few interesting

examples were recorded by IDEG observers. In Takoradi a white man who turned up to

register had his nationality challenged by party agents but he immediately produced his

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Ghanaian Citizenship documents. At Abelenkpe registration centre in the Ayawaso West

Wuogon Constituency in Accra, a man with a Lebanese name who turned up to register

was challenged but was also able to produce his Ghanaian citizenship documents as

proof of his eligibility. In the Northern region, a man showed up at a registration centre

and when questioned, mentioned his hometown as Buya in the Republic of Togo.

Actually one of his parents was Ghanaian and the gentleman spent a lot of time with this

parent in Ghana. In Takoradi a man called Toure was refused registration on account of

the fact that his name indicated he hailed from one of the Sahelian countries, Mali or

Niger. In Takoradi citizens of Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria turned up at

registration centres to register because they thought the exercise was for the citizens ID

Card. When they were informed that this was a voter registration exercise they quietly

walked away.

On the whole alien registration was not a major problem in the 2008 voter registration

exercise. The few cases encountered were indeed genuine registration of people with

Ghanaian citizenship. A few aliens however turned up to register with an erroneous

impression that it was a citizenship registration exercise. The regions where these

incidents were recorded include; the Western, Eastern, Northern, Upper East and Volta

regions. In the Upper East, in particular, it was difficult to distinguish Burkinabe’s living

along the border from Ghanaians and an English language test is not a useful solution.

• Peace and Security

Registration centres in general did not have permanent security detail. Police patrols

visited centres from time to time and registration officers could call in the Police in case

of trouble. This is more or less the same security arrangements instituted for past

registration exercises.

Unlike the experience on a typical voting day, registration centres did not have allocated

stationary security personnel. This would not have mattered but for the fact that frequent

shortages of registration materials, long queues of irritated prospective voters generated

two types of violent behaviour among persons in the queue and between them and

registration officers. If any person tried to jump the queue it easily generated violent and

insulting behaviour while angry people in the queue sometimes vented their spleen on

registration officers over shortage of materials. In spite of this, almost all IDEG

supervisors described the 2008 registration exercise as very peaceful. No serious violent

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incidents were recorded. Minor violent incidents were isolated cases and reported gun-

shots fired at one Tamale registration centre completely misled the Ghanaian public into

illusions of general violence at registration centres. The fact is that violence was not a

major problem.

Two other minor problems identified that may require serious attention both in future registration

exercises and Election 2008, are the identification of Registration staff or persons working for or

in the name of the EC and party affiliation of such persons

• Identification of EC staff

All persons present at a registration centre need proper identification so that prospective

voters/voters, observers and other persons doing legitimate work may recognize them

as such. In the 2008 registration exercise registration staff and party observers were not

properly identified. One interesting incident that occurred at a registration centre in the

Eastern region illustrates the danger of lack of proper identification. A gentleman came

to the centre and introduced himself to the registration officers as a journalist covering

the exercise. When asked for his ID, his reaction was to ask the registration officers also

to produce their ID. Neither the “Journalist” nor the registration officers had any ID to

show.

• Party affiliation of registration officers

A second minor problem was the party affiliation of registration officers. Registration

officers and most election officers are not permanent employees of the EC but are

recruited temporarily for the election or registration exercise. It is important for public

confidence in the EC and election process that persons recruited should be seen to be

completely non-partisan and impartial. Comments and actions of some of the registration

officers totally betrayed their partisan biases and this could undermine the confidence in

the EC and the credibility of elections and registration process.

6. REGIONAL PECULIARITIES

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In addition to general trends in the voter registration exercise several developments were

peculiar to particular regions and were either not observed in other regions or replicated in one

or two regions only:

6.1 Greater Accra

1. Private companies participated in the photo-taking of registered Voters. In Ayawaso East

a private Company High Information Technology Institute (HITI) was engaged to help

with the registration. With high speed digital cameras HITI was able to take high quality

pictures of about 100 people in 30 minutes. Camera operators using EC cameras took

about 10 minutes to produce one person’s picture. At Ayawaso and Kotobabi other

private photographers who cashed in on the shortage of films to do brisk business,

charged between 2-10 Ghana cedis but did not produce very good pictures.

2. Non-EC staff, mainly observers and persons who had completed their registration

procedures were drafted to assist with the registration exercise specifically with

lamination and picture cutting.

3. Some party officials attempted to register a list of people who were not personally

present at the registration centre.

4. Nepotism and corruption characterized the registration process in the form of people

paying money to jump the queue or party agents helping relatives and party members to

jump the queue in Ayawaso East constituency.

5. Disabled people and pregnant women were given preferential treatment at some centres

in Ashaiman but the privilege was abused when women who were not pregnant quickly

rushed home to dress like pregnant women.

6. At Alajo in Accra some prospective voters produced laminates similar to EC laminates

which were said to have been stolen from the centre to help them get their photo ID

during the shortage of laminates at the centre. They claim to have bought it in the

vicinity.

7. In Nima West and Mamobi some registration officers who did not speak the local

languages had communication problems.

6.2 Central Region

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1. At Cape Coast Kakumdo registration officers made a mistake by skipping 50 registration

forms, drawing angry protest from the NDC Parliamentary candidates Barton Oduro.

2. In one of the constituencies there was confusion over which finger should be marked

with the indelible ink: left thumb or left index finger.

3. In the Adjumako-Enyan-Essiam constituency there was problem with furniture for

registration.

4. At Apam in the Central region some “machomen” were reported to have beaten up some

registration officers over refusal to register some non-residents.

5. At Mumford also in the Central region there was collusion between NPP and NDC

agents at some centres over “underage” registration with each agent allowing the other

to allow an equal number of underage registrations using the “you do, I do” slogan.

6.3 Eastern Region

1. Some party vehicles were used to transport registration officers looking for more

registration forms.

2. Some registration officers made mistakes about the polling station of registered voters.

3. A journalist who was challenged over his ID also challenged the registration officers for

their ID’s.

6.4 Northern Region

1. Hardly any media persons or observers were encountered at centres visited.

2. Some towns such as Salaga experienced heavy rainfall on some registration days and

this made it difficult for people to move to registration centres to register.

6.5 Upper East

1. Some registration centres located under trees were forced to close down on rainy days.

2. Binduri had excellent gender balance on registration staff; 70 per cent of registration

Assistants and 45 per cent of camera operators were women, a very unique situation.

3. Strong suspicion that a few people living on the Burkinabe side of the border might have

crossed over to register.

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6.6 Volta

1. The worst case of registration officers without commitment to the work was recorded

here. A presiding officer at one of the centres could leave for home anytime of the day

and not come back and could stay home for as long as five days without reporting for

duty.

2. Some registration assistants showed their partisan colours from their comments

overheard by an IDEG observer.

3. A school at one of the registration centres refused to release furniture on the grounds

that the head teacher was not notified that registration officers would require furniture

from the school and in any case, it was the last day of school term and the school

needed the furniture as well.

4. One of the registration centres recorded a case of stolen registration forms.

6.7 Western

1. At some of the centres in Takoradi there was conflict between voter registration officers

and National Identification registration officers over furniture because they happened to

be located at exactly the same place.

2. Since the National Identification registration exercise was going on at the same time

several alien nationals mistakenly reported at voter registration centres but were turned

away after the difference had been explained to them.

3. The interest of the local media stations in the coverage of the registration exercise was

exceptionally strong – Kyzz FM, Rock FM, Good news FM, Melody FM, Skyy FM and

SKyy TV were everywhere tracking the exercise.

7. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

The limited registration exercise held from July 31st to August 12th, 2008 did not go as well as

expected. Many people registered more than once. Others who should NOT have registered

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have registered while many who are qualified to register did not have the opportunity to do so.

At the same time many people who registered have not yet been issued with their voter ID

cards. Provisional registration figures show a huge increase of over 83.5 per cent over and

above the EC’s own highest estimate of one million new voters.

The register that will result from the 2008 registration exercise, all sides agree will be a hugely

bloated register. Serious and innovative strategies will be required to trim the register to a more

realistic size in order to ensure the credibility of the elections it would be used for..

In the process of cleaning the register however, it will be most helpful to keep in mind what was

a major problem in the registration exercise and what was not so serious, if the appropriate

strategies for cleaning up are to be prudently devised. The report indentified five (5) major

problems that afflicted the 2008 registration exercise as:

1. Shortage of Registration Form 1A;

2. Inadequate registration centres;

3. Unsuitable registration centres;

4. Interference by party agents in the registration exercise; and

5. Multiple and underage registration.

Minor problems encountered include alien registration, peace and security, lack of identification

for personnel at registration centres and registration officers who did not conceal their partisan

affiliation. Major and minor problems, no doubt, reinforced each other to complicate matters for

the registration exercise. It is important however, to keep them conceptually separate.

8. RECOMMENDATIONS

Ghana has a much shorter electoral cycle than many citizens are aware of. Therefore limited

registration exercises do also occur at much quicker pace and intervals than most Ghanaians

realize. Registration shortcomings observed in one exercise should be addressed rather

urgently before they recur in the next registration.

General and local government elections are held every four years and since they are conducted

two years apart from each other, the country holds a major election every two years. Each major

election, under present standing arrangements, also calls for a registration exercise. Ghana, in

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effect, conducts a major election and registration exercise every other year. The urgency for the

immediate rectification of registration shortcomings is great.

8.1 Immediate

The EC should shift into high gear to ensure that the voter’s register arising from the 2008

registration exercise is clean and fit to be used for the December 2008 elections. To achieve

this, the EC should do the following:

xvi. Enter into collaboration with a broad range of civil society organizations, traditional

authorities and media to devise technically feasible strategies for eliminating from the

register names of underage persons, aliens and Ghanaians who have registered more

than once.

xvii. Institute without delays, the appropriate machinery for investigating the 7,374 complaints

that have been filed in connection with the 2008 registration exercise with special

emphasis on the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti regions where about 70 per cent of the

complaints was recorded.

xviii. Give adequate publicity to the exhibition of the voters register due to take place from 5-

11 October 2008 so that members of the public may not only verify their own names but

also help with the cleaning of the register by raising legitimate objections to the inclusion

of names that legally should not be in the register – non-resident, multiple registration

underage, alien and dead persons.

xix. Ensure that effective security is provided for the Exhibition of the voters register in

October to guarantee adequate protection for the register, the exhibition officers and

persons who may register their legitimate objection to the inclusion of names of

unqualified persons.

xx. Take steps to get Exhibition Officers and other EC staff as well as party agents and

other observers to be appropriately identified by wearing their photo IDs or identification

tags or properly inscribed T-shirts and Caps.

xxi. Train party agents at registration, exhibition and polling stations not to obstruct, slow

down or interfere with the work of EC staff but to co-operate to accelerate the delivery of

their functions.

xxii. Appeal to all who have registered more than once to voluntarily surrender the additional

cards to the EC in exchange for a pardon and immunity from prosecution.

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xxiii. Appeal to parents, political parties, faith-based organisations, and traditional authorities,

as a matter of patriotism and national duty, to persuade their children, party members

and subjects who might have engaged in double registration to voluntarily surrender

their additional cards to the nearest District Election Officer.

xxiv. Institute urgent measures to address the problems of material shortages, paucity of

registration centres before the next registration exercise in 2010.

xxv. Institute more stringent procedures for supervising temporary staff who are engaged for

voting, registration and exhibition exercises.

xxvi. Consider the adoption of better equipment such as high speed digital cameras capable

of handling many people within a very short time.

xxvii. Adopt a policy of ensuring gender balance among registration exhibitions and voting

staff so that the example of Binduri constituency (Upper East) where a substantial

number of registration staff were women will become the national model.

xxviii. Pay more attention to the party associations of its potential employees for elections,

voters’ registration and exhibition exercises.

xxix. Advise registration staff not to engage prospective voter’s observers and non-EC staff in

the performance of official EC duties.

xxx. Advise registration staff to handle more courteously and cautiously cases of suspected

alien registration to avoid embarrassing foreigners who have acquired Ghanaian

citizenship through the appropriate legal procedures. Too many foreign nationals who

had acquired Ghanaian citizenship were discourteously challenged over their nationality.

8.2 Medium-term

In the medium-term (3-5years) Ghana should be moving toward a continuous registration

exercises based on biometric techniques. By this, we mean Ghanaians should be able to

register as voters, anytime they turn eighteen and their finger prints should be the most reliable

form of identification to eliminate the problem of double and multiple registration and

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cumbersome ten to twelve day registration exercise every two years. The immediate cost of

continuous biometric registration may be huge but its long-term cost-effectiveness in terms of

money, time, labour, energy and reliability is not in doubt. The production of a clean Voters’

Register devoid of double or multiple entries of voters is in itself adequate justification for any

cost that may be entailed in continuous biometric registration. In addition the stress recent

voters’ registration exercise had placed on voters, registration officers, party agents,

parliamentary candidates, and party executives and to a limited extent observers, media and

security personnel will be substantially eliminated.

This has several implications for the EC, the Government of Ghana’s and development

partners. The government and its development partners should help with the following:

• Financial support for the procurement of biometric equipment for registration;

• Capacity building and enhancement to operate and maintain biometric equipment;

• Logistical support to apply biometric equipment in Ghana’s rural environment; and

• Financial assistance to expand and reinforce the EC’s human resource base to

guarantee trouble-free and continuous biometric registration.

8.3 Future

Before the District Assembly Elections of 2010 another round of voters registration exercise will

be conducted. Really the next limited registration exercise is less than two years away. It will be

most helpful for the EC to hold a week-end retreat for political parties and CSO’s to do a

thorough review of the 2008 registration exercise with the objective of ensuring a better

managed registration in 2010. Fortunately, registration for district level election which is not

based on political parties usually encounters far fewer problems than registration for

Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Nevertheless, the benefits of calling a workshop or

retreat of civil society organizations and other stakeholders to review the 2008 registration will

be immense.

SECTION III

9. ANALYSIS OF CHECKLIST

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To aid IDEG field officers in the data collection during the limited registration exercise, a

framework i.e. a checklist of things to look out for was developed to be used by the officers. This

section provides an analysis of the key findings based on the thematic areas of the checklist.

Registration Personnel: The observed trend by our field officers from the 7 regions suggests

the timely deployment of registration personnel comprising Registration Assistants (RAs) and

Camera Crew (CC) over the 13-day period of the exercise. Generally, RAs were often present,

punctual and worked on time. But for the Greater Accra Region, the CC were deemed to be

generally efficient i.e. punctual, working on time and fast on the job as depicted in figure 3.

These trends to some extent show the level of preparedness of the EC towards the exercise.

Figure 3: Efficiency of Camera Crew

Source: IDEG Field Observation 2008

Security presence at the registration centres was lacking, with the worse affected areas being

the Central, Eastern, Northern, Volta and Western regions. Particular constituencies such as

Bawku Central had regular security presence at most of the registration centres due to already

existing disputes in the area. The Greater Accra region was the only region to have experienced

high presence of the security personnel, even though most did not stay at post.

Figure 4: Presence of Security Personnel in the Greater Accra Region

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Registration Material: Registration centres in the Upper East region experienced the highest

incidence of shortage in registration material based on the frequency of reports received during

the duration of the exercise. The Greater Accra region on the other hand, reported the least

incidence of shortage in materials as depicted in figure 5. Sixty two percent (62%) of the

records indicated a general shortage in registration material in Upper East compared to the

twenty eight percent (28%) recorded in the Greater Accra region.

Figure 5: Availability of Registration Materials in the Regions Observed

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Besides Greater Accra and Northern regions, the rest of the regions had above fifty percent

(50%) reported cases in the shortage of registration materials. The availability and/or

unavailability of materials were judged based on the following items:

1. Registration books,

2. Cameras for taking pictures, and

3. Furniture to be used by the RAs.

Figure 6 gives an indication of the breakdown in the shortages reported from the Upper East

Region.

Page | 37

Figure 6: Assessment of Registration Materials in the Upper East Region


Patronage: The voter registration exercise was highly patronised5 with high turnouts in all but 1

region (Central). The central region recorded the lowest percentage figure i.e. 45% in relation to

how busy the registration centres were with the Greater Accra region being the busiest with a

figure of 97% (see figure 7). The high turnout rate albeit unexpected from the EC’s estimation

was mostly experienced in the mornings and evenings. The busiest periods vary depending on

the region. Three regions – Central, Eastern and Upper East were mostly busy in the mornings

whereas the other four – Greater Accra, Northern, Volta and Western were mostly busy in the

evenings (refer to figure 8).

Figure 7: Patronage in the Central & Greater Accra Regions

5 Patronage was determined by how busy the registration centres were.

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Figure 8: Busy Periods of Registration in the Regions


Stakeholder Interest: The exercise generated much interest among the Political Party agents

notably the NDC and NPP. The NDC and NPP party agents were virtually present in all the

registration centres throughout the exercise in the respective regions (see figure 9 below).

Interest among other stakeholder such as the media, national and international observers,

Page | 39

development partners and sitting Members of Parliament was generally low. The low presence

of other stakeholders besides the party agents generally reflects the lack of importance attached

to the exercise. Additionally the general lack of other party agents at the centres also gives an

indication of the under capacity of these parties.

Figure 9: Interest Generated Among Party Agents


Identification of Staff and Stakeholders: Identification of key actors/stakeholders in the

exercise was generally difficult as observed in all registration centres in the 7 regions. Most of

the registration personnel and the party agents did not have name tags by which they could be

easily identified. This problem persisted even among the national and international observers at

the centres.

Disputes: The disputes reported were mostly related to multiple, non-resident, underage and

alien registrations. Other disputes had to do with the alleged party affiliation of RAs even though

Page | 40

this was mostly prevalent in the Western Region. Underage registration ranked highest in five

(5)6 of the seven (7) regions. A ranking of the disputes based on the frequency figures is

presented in the table below. Dispute related to non-resident registration was ranked highest in

the Central region whereas in the Western region, disputes related to the party affiliation of RAs

ranked highest.

Table 2: Ranking of Source of Disputes by Region

Variables Central Eastern Greater Accra

Northern Upper East

Volta Western

Alien Registration

3 3 2 2 4 2 5

Underage Registration

2 1 1 1 1 1 2

Non-Resident Registration

1 2 3 3 3 3 3

Multiple Registration

4 4 4 4 2 4 4

Party Affiliation of Registration Assistants

5 5 5 5 5 5 1

Note: The highest rank is 1 and the lowest 5


Analysis of the dispute data indicates a peaceful resolution of most of the disputes often through

consensus building among the political party agents. A greater percentage of underage related

disputes were resolved amicably as depicted in figure 10. Interestingly the dispute among the

parties in regard to the party affiliation could not be resolved peacefully in the Western region.

This presupposes the difficulty involved in resolving disputes where party agents are at the

centre of the dispute.

6 Eastern, Greater Accra, Northern, Upper East and Volta

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Figure 10: Percentage of Underage Reported Violence Resolved Amicably


Gender Balance: There were more females represented as registration assistants at the

registration centres compared to the other variables – camera crew and party agents as

depicted in figure 11. The Eastern, Greater Accra and Northern region had no female

represented as a camera crew. The Greater Accra region had the highest number of female

proportionally represented as party agents among the 7 regions. The gender breakdown of all

observers including IDEG field officers is also highlighted in figure 12.

Figure 11: Ratio of Female Representatives as Camera Crew, Registration Assistants & Party Agents

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Figure 12: Gender Breakdown of Observers (IDEG Field Staff Inclusive)


ANNEX

ANNEX 1: Regions & Constituencies where observation was undertaken

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REGION CONSTITUENCIES Central Cape Coast

Gomoa East Gomoa West Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam

Eastern Aburi-Nsawam

New Juabeng North New Juabeng South Suhum

Greater Accra Ayawaso Central

Ayawaso East Ayawaso West Wuogon Ashaiman

Northern Kpandai

Salaga Upper East Bawku Central

Binduri Zebilla Garu-Teampane

Western Sekondi

Shama Takoradi

Final draft ideg observation-report_voter-reg-ex 2008 1

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