Ghana’s biometric voter system test records poor turnout

The two-day test of Ghana’s biometric voter system ahead of its upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections were poorly attended, according to government officials.

Officials from Ghana’s Electoral Commission said that the pilot biometric exercise, which took place at polling stations in one urban center and one rural community in all regions across the country, recorded extremely low voter turnout.

According to a recent story in BiometricUpdate.com, the aim of the exercise was to ensure that biometric machines were properly evaluated before the election in December.

While reports said that some voters were enthusiastic about the exercise, some of the country’s political parties expressed criticism at the mock voting exercise. They claim that the low turnout did not subject the biometric verification equipment to the high processing numbers the systems would be subjected to during the actual election.

On December 7, over 14 million voters in Ghana are expected to cast their ballots at 23,000 polling places.

To address concerns over the new voting registration system, the chairman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, will meet with all the country’s presidential candidates to brief them on the measures that will be taken to ensure a fair election.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  biometrics  |  elections  |  evaluation  |  government  |  verification  |  voter registration  |  voting