EC To Create 162 Electoral Areas In Eastern Region

The Electoral Commission (EC) has proposed to create additional 162 electoral areas in the Eastern Region in preparation towards the 2019 district assembly and unit committee elections.

The region already has about 850 electoral areas and if the proposal is accepted the electoral areas in the 26 districts would shoot up to 1,010 electoral areas.

The Regional Director of the EC, Mrs Faith Amedzake, who disclosed this at a stakeholders meeting including the political parties in Koforidua, said chiefs and other key stakeholders had been consulted to give acceptable names for the various proposed electoral areas.

She said even though the EC per its mandate had proposed for the 162 electoral areas based on its assessment, the figure could either increase or decrease depending on the final consultation and assessments and parliamentary approval.

According to the regional director, the EC sought to find and consult and engage all stakeholders of the various areas to ensure that names given to the additional electoral areas would be acceptable as well as factors that formed the basis.

She expressed satisfaction at the level of cooperation by all the chiefs and stakeholders at the various areas that needed the additional electoral areas citing the insightful names given by the chiefs for the proposed areas.

She however called on the political parties to dialogue with names and cross check what they had with to avoid discrepancies and tension to ensure that it got the parliament approval and acceptance of all parties involved.

On replacement of lost Voter ID cards, the Regional director noted that it had been suspended in all the districts across the regions in Ghana, to enable the commission deploy all its necessary equipment and materials to Bono East and Ahafo regions for the referendum.

As per the recommendation of the Presidential Commission, a referendum would be conducted in the Brong Ahafo region and as part of the preparation, the EC was embarking on a limited registration exercise to provide opportunity for people whose names were not in the register.

 She therefore appealed to stakeholders especially the political parties and the media to educate the public on the suspension of the replacement of voters ID in lieu of the preparation towards the creation of new regions.