The Chief Electoral Commissioner, Christiana Thorpe has confirmed that 67% of those who registered for August’s presidential and parliamentary elections are below 38 years of age.
Speaking to journalists last week, Dr Thorpe said 18-22 year-olds comprise 24%, 23-27 year-olds are 17%, 28-33 years of age are 15 % and those aged between 33-37 years are 11 %.
She said most of the youths who registered were only taking part in an election process for the first time and that the commission had a tremendous job to create a voter-friendly atmosphere to ensure that these new voters participate in the process.
She also announced that 49% of all the voter registrants are women.
“This is a good thing. [It] shows that women are now participating in politics” the NEC Boss said.
She also announced that the Commission would be recruiting more staff and training them to man additional voter centers, 10 of which will be in the east, 96 in the north, 47 in the south region and in the western region.
Dr Thorpe said that the Commission was now trying to locate these sites and would be calling on civil society and political parties to help them.
ADVERTISEMENT