Hundreds of security personnel are reported to be angry after returning to a polling center in the Subin constituency in the Ashanti Region to cast their ballots in Sunday’s extension’s of the Special Voting exercise only to be told that their names are missing in the voters register.
The affected were denied the opportunity to exercise their franchise on Thursday, December 1, 2016 during the main edition of the early voting exercise.
Thousands of security personnel, including the Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Peterkin Yentumi-Gyinae, and others couldn’t cast their ballot because their names were not on the list of the voters register submitted to the designated polling centers by the Commission.
Sunday’s exercise is the extension of the Special Voting exercise that took place on Thursday, December 1, 2016.
The extension was triggered by missing names and other irregularities that marred the early voting exercise on Thursday.
The decision to continue with the exercise followed the Electoral Commission’s meeting with representatives of the political parties and the hierarchy of the Police Service in an emergency meeting Thursday.
The angry security personnel were spotted exchanging words with the Returning Officers mandated by the EC to supervise the elections at the polling station.
The Presiding Officer in an interview with TV3 was seen calming nerves down.
“If you registered in Obuasi and you have been transferred to Kumasi but did not transfer your vote to Subin constituency but have your ID card and bring it to here to vote, you will be denied. However, you have to exercise restraint because they are going to bring the main voters list for the Special Voting exercise and if your name is there, you will be allowed to cast your ballot,” the Returning Officer noted.
But the angry security personnel do not understand why the EC officials, despite having such measure in place, did not take the main voters list for the Special Voting exercise along to forestall any eventuality.
The early voting exercise, Kasapafmonline.com understands, is being conducted with the same voters register that was used for Thursday’s exercise.
The story is not different from other polling stations across the country.
A total of 1, 626 people are expected to cast their ballots in the two polling centers in the Subin Constituency.
The main elections come off December 7, where a president and 275 parliamentarians will be elected to help govern the country in the next four years.
Special voting is a special dispensation under the electoral laws of Ghana that allows registered voters who will not be able to present themselves at their polling stations on voting day as a result of the roles they will play in the polls to vote on a date before the rest of the electorate vote on the date set for the elections.
The categories of people who are allowed to do special voting are security personnel, officials of the EC and journalists.
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