<<Print>>

Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said minors captured in the Biometric Voter Register posed a big challenge to the EC in the conduct of this year�s general elections. He said this on Thursday during a media dialogue organized by the Editors� Forum of Ghana (EFG) on the topic �on election 2012: the EC�s preparations and related matters�. �Nobody knows exactly what to do about this registered minors. It is a very big problem and it does not speak well of us,� he said. He said the biometric verification machine cannot determine who is a minor or a foreigner and that examination of images of those captured during the biometric registration shows that minors were registered all over the country. Dr Afari-Gyan showed to journalists copies of the voters� register containing images of minors from the Northern Region specifically Tamale, the Ashanti, Volta, Brong- Ahafo, Upper East and West regions. He said the EC was still compiling the list of those who claimed to be 18 years of age but their images showed them to be minors. Dr Afari-Djan said on Election Day no one can prevent registered minors from voting as long as their names are in the register and expressed regret that the EC had no power to remove the names of the minors from the register except upon a court order. He said during an interaction with opinion leaders from the Tamale, the EC was informed by the opinion leaders that the minors registered in Tamale were registered in the strongholds of the two leading party. The EC Chairman said the issue of registered minors could be a source of conflict and that the EC was still dialoguing with all political parties to get them to advise their supporters who are minors to desist from voting on December 7. He said minors registration was a crime and urged parents and teachers who knew their wards were registered minors to come forward so that their names could be deleted from the register. Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, Chairperson of EFG, said everyone was concerned about the issue of registration of minors and appealed to the media to alert parents and teachers about the dangers of minors trying to vote.