Preliminary statistics indicate women and first time voters have shown keen interest in the ongoing voters registration exercise, Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission has observed.

She said Persons with Disability were also keenly participating in the exercise, and described the exercise as 'very inclusive'.

"In terms of Gender, we have seen more women registering in this exercise than men. Whilst this is not surprising, the gap is quite wide. To date, we have a total of 6,100,440 women as against 5,528,970 men who have registered. Women make up 52.5 per cent of registered citizens so far, compared to men who make up 47.5 per cent," she said.

Mrs Mensah said first time voters were also showing deep interest in the exercise and that at the end of phase four of the registration, a total of 480,851 persons, aged 18 years, had registered as voters.

"This figure represents 4.1 per cent of the register whiles 419,530 persons aged 19 years also registered. The 18 and 19 year olds make up 7.7 per cent of the register," she said, so far.

Mrs Mensa explained that for the purposes of the registration exercise, the EC classified first-time voters as persons who were exactly 18 years at the time of registration.

"Generally, those within the 18-20 year have participated actively in this exercise. However, the figures I will share today relate only to persons who are 18 years old at the time of registration. We classify this age group as first-time voters because over the last two years we have held district level elections and referenda. Therefore, there is a possibility that those above 18 may have voted in those elections," she said.

On Persons with disabilities, Mrs Mensa said at the end of the fourth phase 46,237 persons with disabilities had successfully gone through the registration processes, representing 0.40 per cent of the total number of registered voters.

"These figures are very encouraging, and this is an indication of the unwavering interest that citizens have in who manages the reigns of leadership of our dear country," she said.

The EC Chairpersons, however, expressed concern about reports that some persons with disabilities were not given priority at the centres.

"The Commission apologizes for this breach in the procedure and will ensure that going forward, priority is given to all persons with disabilities who visit our registration centres," she said.