Voter Registration for the 2012 elections started yesterday, with ‘battles’ amongst voters as to who was to be the first to be registered in their respective centres.
Classes at the Ahamdiyya Muslim Junior Secondary School, Tagrin, in the Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, Port Loko District, were interrupted yesterday, Monday 23rd when a Toyota Land Cruiser arrived with a couple of people in white T-shirts, marked ‘Registration Staff’. They moved to the back of the school which was to become the registration centre for Ward 185, Constituency 54, carrying machines and computers.
The school children’s curiosity did not last for long as the first two men who had arrived earlier than the Registration staff started arguing over who should be the first to register. With the argument in progress, the Registration staff slowly settled down and setup the system to start the process of voter registration for the Presidential, Parliamentarian and Local elections in November 2012.
At the Brookfield’s Hotel Registration Centre in Ward 388, Constituency 110 in the Western Area Urban, the elderly were anxious to go through the process as compared to the young men and women. Registration started at 8:10 am.
The exercise took off poorly and slowly. Between 8:10 and 11:43 am, only five elderly women came for registration. The situation however improved a little as at midday, when the queue started going long. Only one party agent from All Peoples Congress (APC) and two monitors from National Elections Watch (NEW) were visible, with only a single police personnel presence.
In Ward 385, Constituency 109, at the New England Ville Community School, the exercise started at 7:30am with an initial low turnout. By 10:00am, the number at the centre increased progressively. Turnout of the elderly was impressive. However, only 16 elderly women had gone through the exercise by midday.
It was observed however that the slowness of the exercise was due to what they observed as “heavy workload” on the Data Entry Operator who has to take photos and input data into the computer at the same time. Furthermore, the only computer at the centre went on and off at intervals. Only two party agents were present’ each from the APC and SLPP, one police officer and two observers from NEW and the Independent Radio Network (IRN).
At the St. Thomas Primary School at Ascension Town, registration started an hour late due to the apparent slowness of the NEC officials. Many people who were at the centre to register commented on the slow state of affairs and attributed it to the inadequate understanding of the system by its operators.
Speaking to Awoko, Aliya Latiff Sheriff; Data Entry Operator at the St. Thomas School struggled for a while to replace a battery in the biometric computer machine after which she went to put on the stand-by generator. She said the battery for the machine was adding to the “slowness” of the process. She however hoped that things will work better.
One of NEC’s staff, Bailah Molleh, expressed satisfaction over the conduct of the people at his St. Thomas Primary School centre.
Saidu Turay first to register at the Targrin centre, remarked, “I am very happy. I think this is good for the country and I am going to get my family to come and registered,” as he showed his receipt.
With over 30,000 people to register in the Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, the slow pace of the process is a concern to local authorities. They are concerned whether the NEC would be able to register all potential voters.
Paramount Chief Bai Shebora Sheba Gbera III, of Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom told Awoko that he is happy with the process so far and hope that “NEC will be able to register all those qualified to vote in November 2012.”
Meanwhile, NEC’s Chief of External Outreach, Albert Massaquoi says the first day went on well with minor hiccups over logistics. He admitted slowness of the exercise “at the initial stage” noting that “Data Entry Operators are still nervous with the machines” but assured that it will pass away as the exercise progresses.
Mr. Massaquoi maintained that NEC is not insisting on a 100 registration per day noting that they have advised the operators to go over the mark when time permits.
By Awoko Correspondents
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