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The Electoral Commission (EC) and the various political parties seem to be making a headway in the proposed biometric voters� registration exercise. After almost three hours of closed door Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting at EC headquarters last Friday, the commission finally agreed to let the parties, especially those with representation in Parliament, make an input into whatever decision that would go into the process. Daily Guide has also learnt that the contentious issue of verification has been accepted by the EC and the commission is asking $20million to take care of the extra cost on the verification. The EC had earlier budgeted for $80million for the biometric registration without the verification. An agreement was reached for the setting up of two committees to resolve all outstanding issues relating to data security and legal concerns raised on the biometric registration exercise after yesterday�s meeting. Members of the proposed committees would be expected to assist the EC in that regard. The main unresolved issue is the manner of registration, whether it should be done simultaneously across the country or in piecemeal. The political parties are craving for simultaneous registration in order to avoid double and multiple registrations. Barring any unforeseen hitches, the biometric registration exercise is scheduled to commence in the first quarter of next year, 2012 whilst an agreement was also reached for a verifiable process devoid of any doubts and manipulations. The various political parties with representatives in Parliament are expected to submit names of their members who would be on the committees to the EC by Monday. It is however not clear whether the EC would be able to create 20 more constituencies in addition to the existing130 since the Statistical Service has not yet made available its final report of the 2010 population census to enable the Commission to take a decision. Even before the agreement was reached, General Secretary of the Peoples� National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah, walked out of the meeting, claiming it was nothing but a mere window dressing.�Clearly, the Electoral Commission has decided. They just called for this meeting; for me, a window dressing to come and listen to what they have. They did not need our input and so there was no much need to sit in a meeting where decisions and conclusions have already been made,� he said in an interview shortly after stepping out of the meeting. Mornah noted that the �the Electoral Commission has made up their mind. They have informed us what they have done since 7th February, 2011 and they think that they have done their work and that the political parties cannot tell them what they should do,� adding, �The Electoral Commissioner doesn�t want to even move a millimetre, no amends, they are stuck to what they have decided.� Apart from that, he narrated, �the Electoral Commission has indicated that instead of doing it, what I describe as tot-tot registration in five thematic areas, they are now going to do it in four and that they are going to start the registration exercise in the first quarter of 2012.� But General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, who was also part of the IPAC meeting, told DAILY GUIDE �the meeting went well, at least the first time that we have had a successful IPAC meeting, knowing that the PNC, the CPP, ourselves wanted it badly. We had very fruitful discussion. �What we have is to make an input into what should be brought to be able to do the work so that at the end of the day, we will all be clear in our minds that we have had a credible exercise free from all other manipulations�.