The first day of the special voting exercise recorded a turnout rate of 72.69 percent representing 92,231 of 126,875 registered persons, according to provisional figures from the Electoral Commission (EC).
This was achieved regardless of the challenges that plagued the exercise, compelling the Commission to set aside another day on Sunday December 4, for persons who were nearly disenfranchised to cast their vote.
Although the Greater Accra Region had the highest number of people voting, in terms of turnout by percentages, the Upper East Region recorded the highest turnout of 87.20 percent representing 6,327 of 7,254 voters.
The lowest turnout was recorded in the Upper West Region, with 62.30 percent representing 1,828 of 2,934 registered voters.
The Greater Accra Region had the highest number of registered special voters with 25,273, though it recorded the second lowest turnout with 16,474, representing 65.18 percent of the votes cast.
The Ashanti Region on the other hand, recorded the second highest turnout with 15,474 out of 19,474 representing 78.51 percent to match its number, as the region with the second highest number of special voters.
It as yet unclear as to what extent the hitches during the special voting exercise on Sunday affected the turnout.
Hundreds of special voters, mostly security personnel, in the various regions, queued at polling stations across the country on Thursday, but could not cast their ballots during the exercise.
Some people who were also supposed to vote outside their original constituencies were turned away by Returning Officers.
Following this, the EC, at an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Thursday evening, decided to extend the special voting exercise to Sunday, December 4, to allow persons who couldn’t vote to do so.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
