The Electoral Commission (EC) has suspended its planned new voters’ register compilation due to the coronavirus pandemic in Ghana.

The exercise was initially scheduled for April 18, 2020, but no new date has been announced.

Speaking to the media after an Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting on Wednesday, the EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, said the commission is collaborating with health experts to decide on a more favorable date depending on the prevalence rate of the virus.

“We had planned to do the registration on the [18th of April] but because of the pandemic, we can’t do it on the 18th so we are observing what is happening around Ghana and the global issue,” Mr. Quaicoe said to the press.

This announcement was expected following earlier comments made by the General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu, after the meeting Wednesday.

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He said the date for the registration was “likely to change depending on how it [the handling of the virus] goes.”

His comments also came after the EC said it will announce a new date for the compilation of the new register.

Currently, he said the commission is “feverishly” putting in place its plans

“The software for the new register is almost ready. They [the EC] are waiting for the hardware,” he added.

The EC has said it wants to ensure that the register that is used on the Election Day is more credible and efficient than the existing one hence the need for a new Biometric Voter Management System (BVMS).

The Commission is asking to replace its biometric machines to better address verification challenges that could occur during elections.

A key new feature the EC cited is the introduction of a facial recognition option in addition to fingerprint verification.