Yaounde, Cameroon Africa. (Cameroon News) – Statistics from Cameroon’s elections and referenda governing institution, Elections Cameroon (ELECAM) show that there are 7,024,183 registered voters for the 2011 presidential election in the country.

The statistics compiled on July 15, 2011 indicate that there are 1,956,347 new voters and 5,067,836 voters on the electoral register the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation (MINATD) handed over to ELECAM following the 2007 twin legislative and council elections.

Elecam - Elections Cameroon. Members of the Cameroon Electoral Body in Yaounde, Cameroon Africa

The Chairman of the Electoral Board of ELECAM, the body to supervise the electoral process, Dr Fonkam Azu’u Samuel disclosed the statistics in Yaounde, Monday, July 25, 2011 at the start of the extraordinary board meeting of ELECAM.

The six additional Board members of ELECAM who took office after the swearing-in ceremony at the Supreme Court on July 21, 2011, participated in the meeting as full members for the first time.

Between June 2011 ending and July 15, ELECAM registered 91,361 new voters throughout the national territory.

The electoral register received from the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation would have to be cleaned up using an adapted software to delete the names of people who have died, have changed residence, as well as people who have lost their civic rights through imprisonment, ELECAM officials say.

With the law authorising Cameroonians in the Diaspora to vote in presidential elections and referenda, the number of new voters is expected to increase substantially.

ELECAM is expected to launch registration abroad after the Head of State, Paul Biya must have signed regulatory texts contained in the law enabling Cameroonians in the Diaspora to register and vote in presidential elections and referenda.

“Once the decrees on the different modalities are signed, we will immediately get to work”, the Electoral Board Chairman, Dr Fonkam Azu’u said in an interview.

He disclosed that ELECAM has got much of the electoral material in readiness for election.

Elections stakeholders back in the country have intensified efforts to get more voters register ahead of the August 31, 2011 deadline.

The institution as the Director General of Elections, Mohaman Sani Tanimou said in a recent press interview, is targeting at least 7.5 million voters for the 2011 presidential election.

The target can possibly be reached, considering the present level of registration back in the country and Cameroonians in the Diaspora who are still to start the process.