A TOTAL of 287,438 people have registered to vote across the country, the Electoral Commission revealed yesterday.
Chief Electoral Officer Polycarp Haununu said the list includes the 6000 voters who were found to have registered multiple times, but which will be subjected to revision during the next phase of the registration.
“We are happy to reach that percentage of voter registration turnout. This figure of 287,438 is estimated to be around 80-85 percent of voter registration and this is seen as a success for this new BVR system,” Mr Haununu said.
He said according to the 2009 census, the total population of the country was 567,068 and if taking into account the current growth rate, the estimated population would be 638,239.
Mr Haununu added it is estimated that 339,064 of the total population would be eligible voters.
“287,438 registered voters is within the 80-85% of eligible voting population and it shows that the BVR system has been a great success.”
He said in any registration system anywhere in the world, no one could achieve 100 percent and with this figure it is impressive compared to other advanced nations in the world.
He added that although the list might slightly change during the revision period, it does show a fair, credible and more accurate list to previous lists.
Mr Haununu said this year’s Provisional list has 160,770 fewer registrations than the electoral list of 2010.
He said this could be due to people using ghost names, double registration, and deceased names.
“Although this BVR system is new, we have made great success and a millstone for the electoral commission in its drive to use modern technology in conducting elections in the country.”
Mr Haununu said although there are challenges faced in undertaking this new BVR system, the commission was pleased with the outcomes of the voter registration turnout.
By DANIEL NAMOSUAIA
