Members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Western Region have justified technical glitches that resulted in the sudden halt of the Electoral Commission of Ghana’s (EC) new voter register piloting exercise in the region.

According to them, the technical failure was not a surprise to them as such events were normal occurrences for a piloting exercise.

Speaking in an interview with Happy 98.9 FM’s Samuel Eshun, host of the Happy Morning Show, the Western Regional Communication Director of the NPP, Issah Fuseini said, “The technical problem we faced is a normal problem.” He noted that he has followed such piloting programs for a while now and this problem always comes up. “It is nothing new and not a challenge at all.”

He furthered that the same technical problem was recorded in other areas in the region during the last voter registration exercise. “It happened in Elembele the last time and I witnessed it. It is no new problem.”

Issah Fuseini added that the technical challenges would happen no matter the state of the machines. He insisted that the incidence should not be used by the opposition to call for the cancellation of the compilation new voters’ register.

Defending his insistence, he mentioned that piloting programs are meant to record such occurrences and inform the EC on which bugs to fix to ensure the smooth operation of the main exercise.

The piloting exercise for the compilation of the new voters register in Takoradi came to a complete halt on Monday as a result of some technical glitches. The glitch could not be solved leading to the abrupt end of the exercise that was to last two days, with about 70 people going successfully through the process.