Hohoe (V/R), Sept. 28, GNA - A total of 14,048 registered voters were captured and mopped-up in the Volta Region, while 83,574 people who, registered were unavailable to complete the photo-taking stage of the voters registration exercise, according to figures released by the Regional Directorate of the Electoral Commission (EC).

This brings the figure of registered voters with photo identification cards in the Region to 796,574 out of the 880,347 names that were captured before the photo taking stage and mopping up exercises. The figure, however, excluded the number for the extension of the mopping up exercise, being undertaken at present at the District Directorates of the EC, which elapses on Thursday September 30, this year.

Mr Muhammed Adoquaye, Volta Regional Director of EC, who briefed the Ghana News Agency in an interview, debunked claims by some people that the EC was trying to disenfranchise some of the electorate in the Region.

He said; "the shortage of materials was not peculiar to the Region alone and people should not try to make capital out of the shortfall". He attributed the shortage of registration materials to the fact there was a rush towards the end of the exercise saying that if the turn out had been high during the early stages of the exercise the problem could have surfaced and remedied long before the last days. Mr Adoquaye said the Regional Directorate had received supplies for the exhibition of the provisional register to enable the general public to update the records and was awaiting further directives from Headquarters.

He said he had in stock nomination forms for aspiring parliamentary candidates and had recruited Returning Officers and submitted names to the headquarters of EC for publication in the media.

Mr Adoquaye said the EC's programmes were on course and expressed optimism of holding free and fair elections in December. He asked political parties to sensitise their supporters on the do's and don'ts to make the general election a masterpiece.