The Electoral Commission (EC) has once again reaffirmed its readiness for the general elections on December 7, 2016, barely a day after the early voting exercise was fraught with challenges.
The Commission says security at the polling stations on December 7, will be maximized, with provisions made for persons with disabilities to vote without impediments.
[contextly_sidebar id=”D1y9gLHqwS58pVMNHiHFgEiopsTRoZDZ”]The EC has also reiterated that, biometric verification will be used concurrently with a manual verification system for voters, who will not be able to biometrically verify their names.
Speaking at a meeting with various election observer groups for the December polls, the EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, indicated that, the Commission has also made special arrangements to ensure a free and fair election.
“We’ve worked closely with the security agencies to get them to understand the process so that they can support the process better. For persons with disabilities, we have special arrangements for them. They will have priority voting at the polling stations along with aged voters and vulnerable women. All these people have priority voting at the polling station. We also this year produced educational materials so that voters who are handicapped know how to vote and we have given them a lot of materials.”
“We have had a lot of concerns about security and the possibility of violence in our elections this year.I think a lot of Ghanaians are concerned about this, and main reasons are that, we have seen unprecedented levels of violence this year.We have done a lot of work this year. We believe in the Commission that we are ready for the elections. We believe that everything is in place for an election that is going to be very transparent and very credible and very inclusive, and that the outcome that we will announce would be the voice of majority of Ghanaians as expressed through the ballot box,” she added.
The EC’s assurance comes barely a day after some persons could not cast their ballot in the special voting exercise, which came off on Thursday across various constituencies.
The Commission has however provided another opportunity for such persons to be able to vote on Sunday, December 4, 2016.
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By: Marian Ansah/ citifmonline.com/Ghana
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