The Electoral Commission of Ghana has introduced a new digital system which will enable prospective applicants to book a slot in a PRIORITY QUEUE from the comfort of their homes.
In a statement released on Tuesday for public perusal, the EC indicated that, “As the country successfully progresses into another phase of the Voters Registration exercise, the Electoral Commission has noted with much satisfaction the massive improvement in the observation of social distancing protocols across all registration centers”.
Following approval by the national COVID-19 management authorities, the national COVID-19 Tracking system has been confirmed as the channel for the new technology tool.
Below is how to book a PRIORITY QUEUE slot before visiting your local registration center,
i. Dial *769#
ii. Select option 3 (event management),
iii. Choose option 1 to “check in to event or venue”
iv. Enter your registration center code and wait for a text message with details of a slot in the priority queue at your local registration center.
The said strategy is to limit the number of people that visit the registration centers at any given time. While applicants have the option to use the current manual chit system, the EC encourages applicants to go digital.
The Commission is optimistic that this new approach will help decongest the registration centers for the safety of both its officials and applicants.
It must be noted however that social distancing does not replace the use of masks and sanitizers. All measures outlined by the national COVID-19 steering team, work in tandem to provide the greates: safety for all.
Applicants with smartphone access can also visit PanaBIOS.org to sign up for an account and follow the prompts for event registration to book a priority spot just in the same way that the USSD option works.
The registration center codes can also be found on the PanaBIOS platform, according to the EC.
ABOUT THE PLATFORM
The PanaBIOS (www.panabios.org) is a pan-African “safe reopening of countries” technology application, developed as part of the African Union’s Open Corridor Initiative.
Ghana is a pioneer country in the development, testing and deployment of the PanaBIOS system through the country’s Trancop Initiative (www.trancop.org). PanaBIOS is the first reference model of the African Union’s Digital Bio surveillance, Bio screening and Biosensing protocol (DABBIT).
Ghana’s Electoral Commission is the first electoral management bodies in the world to implement a digital decongestion protocol based on a bio screening standard for electoral purposes.
The new registration will be available for use at registration centers in the following districts in the Greater Accra Region; Ayawaso West, Tema Metro, La Dadekotopon and Ga North beginning Wednesday, 29th July, 2020.
