The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has revealed to political parties that 127,394 persons will be taking part in the special voting exercise on December 1, ahead of the main elections on December 7.
Emmanuel Wilson, Director of Communications for the People’s National Convention (PNC), revealed this to Class 91.3FM’s Ekow Annan in an interview on the sidelines of an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting at the headquarters of the EC on Friday November 25.
The special voting exercise is an arrangement for security agencies and persons, whose official duties on the day of the main elections will not allow them to vote, to exercise their franchise.
Mr Wilson said: “Now, we are having 127,394 as individuals that are going to constitute the special voting. The reasons given by the EC is that the police, after giving us the initial number of individuals – not really the police but the entire security agencies – have also identified additional flashpoints or additional hotspots and so the security agencies are proposing to give to the EC that instead of them stationing one security agent at the various polling stations, they will propose that we have two security agents particularly at those places identified as hotspots. And so that brought about the increment.”
He expressed disappointment in the chair of the EC, Charlotte Osei, for having said that when the results of the polls are too close, they would be recounted.
“My only difficulty with today’s issue is EC’s inability to define for us what constitutes closeness because the EC, through the Commissioner, made mention that when they realised that the results are very close they are going to engage in recounting. Now EC says they are yet to meet again as a commission to define what they mean by that, and, so, after meeting, they will communicate to us. But I thought that if the EC commissioner was bold enough to tell the whole public that when there is closeness when it comes to the result they are going to do a recount, I am expecting that the EC and the various commissioners would have been able to make that identification and definition before they bring it to the public domain.
“They don’t come and give us a proposal and when they are pinned down to give us clarification, they tell us that they are now going to have a decision on it and they will come back to give us the feedback.”
<<Print>>