Polling stations with more than 700 registered voters will be divided into two

General news for Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

2020-09-23

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said that polling stations with more than 700 registered will be divided into two, A and B, for the general elections on December 7.

This, the EC explained, will reduce long lines at those polling stations.

An EC Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare, speaking at the 2020 Learning Event of the 2020 Call of the Star Ghana Foundation in Accra on Tuesday, September 22, indicated that the decision was in line with the protocols of COVID-19 safety.

According to him, each polling station would have a COVID-19 ambassador, whose duty would be to ensure that all COVID-19 security measures were implemented and complied with.

Regarding the printing of the voting cards, the vice president of the EC said that the political parties will participate in the process and added that the party representatives will be invited to observe the printing process.

This move, he believes, will ensure greater transparency for the elections, as well as prevent manipulation.

“This is what the commission does and this year, we are not going to deviate from tradition and best practices. When it comes to the printing of ballots, we go to the printers with representatives of the political parties.

“For example, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) will have their agents in each of the printing presses,” he said.

On the transfer of votes, Dr. Asare said that only students and members of the security agencies could transfer their votes.

In addition, he stated that the EC would begin the process for the completion of the registration when the transfer of votes takes place before October 25, 2020.

“We are looking at the second week of November and therefore we are looking at around November 10. The IC is very clear about how we make the record available to the parties.

“It says that the commission must deliver the registry to the political parties in the manner determined by the commission; that is in the CI ”, he said.