Ghana Elections: Polls have closed for special voting Live Updates)

17. 05 – Special voting has come to close across the country.

According to Citi News‘ Upper West Region, the exercise was peaceful and successful in the region.

13.05 – Information reaching Citi News indicates that hundreds of persons who turned up to vote in the special voting exercise today, were unable to do so because their names were missing from the EC’s register.

Reports from some correspondents in the Greater Accra Region, the Western and the Volta Regions indicate that potential voters have been informed to return on Friday to exercise their franchise.

A frustrated security official who spoke to Citi News on condition of anonymity said, “somewhere last week they told us to come and change the card because some of the codes are not correct. So I went and they changed the card for me. [Today, at] Burma Camp, we went there and they said the name was not inside so i should find out first whether my name is inside. If not, unless i go and come on Friday.”

In the Ketu South constituency in the Volta Region reports indicate that only the police personnel have their names in the register. Some immigration officials who spoke to Citi News said they could not vote at the Denu Police Station because their names were missing from the register.

12:15 – In the Western Region, several Immigration Officers are in danger of being disenfranchised after their names were not found in the EC’s register.

Some of the officers who spoke to Citi News say they were asked to return to their homes towns across the country to exercise their franchise. The officers however told Citi News it will be impossible for them to travel to their home town to cast their ballot.


10:30 – Member of the NPP Communication team, Samuel Awuku has raised alarm over some activities concerning the Electoral Commission’s special voting exercise noting that, “I think that the whole world is watching; we need to get this right.”

According to him, “We have some concerns; first of all we have reports that around 2 AM this dawn 12 vehicles were dispatched containing ballot boxes to the various regions. Our security and intelligence team monitored this and they have come through with this report. I have spoken to the one in charge of our [NPP] security, Dr. Apraku who has also confirmed this. We don’t know where these ballot boxes are heading to and we don’t know what exactly it’s intended to do because the Electoral Commission did indicate that they have successfully distributed all the ballot boxes and the electoral material.”

Mr Awuku further indicated, “Number two we also do have reports that Police uniforms were seized when they tried clearing it at the Airport. We also do have information that a consignment containing Police uniforms have been seized at Beirut in Lebanon.”

“All funny things are happening, this morning the security personnel also have to form queues only to be told that after hours of being in the queue that they have to go to different places and vote. I have monitored the one at Tesano and some gentlemen who came there have been asked to go to Kaneshie instead to vote. There are also reports from Cantonments where security personnel, who have also formed queues there, [have been] told to go to Burma Camp. I think that we need to get this thing done, and get it done properly. Ghana is Africa’s competitive democracy and I think that the whole world is watching; we need to get this right! ”09.05 – According to Citi News reporter in the Upper West Region, Mahama Latif, the process has been incident free so far at the Community Centre in the Wa municipality. He indicated however, that according to the Regional Director of the EC, Ali Osman , some persons could not be identified by the biometric registration equipment.

According to Mr. Ali, some security personnel could not find their names in the register at the polling station because they did not register for the special exercise.
08.15 – Reports from Citi News correspondents across the nation indicates that the process has so far been peaceful and incident free. Citi News reporter, Eugenia Tenkorang indicates that at the Nima Police Station, several security personnel have showed up in their numbers to cast their ballot.


08.02 – Samuel Awuku, a member of the New Patriotic Party Communications Team in an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show says the party has filed a report with the security services over alleged incidents of nefarious activities surrounding the special voting exercise. According to Mr. Awuku, the NPP’s intelligence monitoring has revealed that 12 vehicles containing voting materials moved from the offices of the national security at 02.00 GMT on Tuesday.

He also indicated that several security personnel intending to vote at their polling stations have been asked to go to different stations to cast their ballot.


07.50 – Voting has begun in majority of the electoral areas across the country in what the Electoral Commission terms the ‘Special Voting’ exercise. Personnel of the Electoral Commission and the nation’s security agencies, including the Police, Army, Fire Service and many others are reported to have turned up in their numbers to exercise their franchise.

The persons participating in the exercise are to elect their choice of Parliamentarians and President today.

According to EC, all the necessary arrangements are in place to ensure a smooth special voting exercise which per CI 75, the law governing the elections, will cover only the two groups, officials of the Commission and the security agencies.

The Acting Public Affairs Manager of the Electoral Commission, Christian Owusu Parry, explained to Citi News in an earlier interview that the process will begin at 07.00 GMT in all 275 constituencies.

However ahead of the national election on Friday, Mr Parry has revealed that the EC is concerned and worried about adverts and messages being put out there that people should remain at the polling stations after voting.

“That is most likely to bring about chaotic situations at polling stations and that is why we advice that people should leave after voting. We expect people to comport themselves when they go to polling stations, if there are queues the rule is that you remain in the queue until it’s your turn. And then you vote and leave the polling station after voting. They may come
back during the counting of the ballot to observe it.”

The New Patriotic Party is currently running a radio commercial which asks its supporters to remain at the polling stations after voting.

Mr. Parry also asked electorates to go to the polling stations with their voter ID cards to prevent any undue delay of the process.

”If we all want the process to move very fast it incumbent upon us to go with our voter ID cards.”
 
Source: Citifmonline