Mamponteng (Ash), July 1, GNA - Sixty-four persons were challenged during the 2004 voters' registration exercise in the Kwabre District of Ashanti.

Reverend Osei-Bonsu Nsiah, Kwabre District Electoral Officer who announced this, said the persons were challenged mainly over age and citizenship.

Briefing a meeting of the Kwabre District Registration Review Committee at Mamponteng on Tuesday, he said 34 of them were challenged over citizenship, 27 believed to be below the voting age and three for being non-resident.

He urged the committee members to use their experience to determine all the cases judiciously.

The District electoral Officer advised persons whose registration had been challenged and those who had challenged them to appear before the committee when invited, adding: "Those who fail to appear before the committee should count themselves disqualified voters."

Rev Osei-Bonsu said the district recorded 99,839 eligible voters in the last registration exercise as against 76,628 in 2000, an increase of 23,161.

He said 38,070 voters were registered in the Kwabre West and 61,755 in Kwabre East.

He said out of the total figure, 94,403 were captured for the photo identity cards leaving out 5,436 who failed to turn up for the exercise including those challenged.