Second day of Special Voting also faces challenges

Hundreds of security personnel, journalists and electoral officers still could not cast their vote yesterday in spite of the lifeline given to them by the Electoral Commission (EC).

Reports from the Greater Accra Region through Ashanti Region and the three northern regions indicated that some of the special voters could not still find their names on the special voters’ list even after the EC extended the special voting exercise to yesterday after many voters were unable to find their names last Thursday.

While some of the security personnel left disappointed, others who could not hold their anger and frustration attacked and vandalised voting materials over their missing names on the second round of special voting.

The situation also stirred confusion in some of the polling stations.

But, the EC has again given an assurance that those who could not find their names on their constituency register will be given the opportunity to do so on December 7, 2016.

While calling for calm, the EC said the Police Administration was also making arrangements to deploy those whose names did not appear on the special voters list to their various constituencies to work on Election Day so that they could vote.

 In an interview with the Daily Graphic yesterday, the EC Head of Communications, Mr Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, said the inability of those special voters to vote for the second time was not fatal since they could vote in their respective constituencies, writes Musah Yahaya Jafaru.

“They should be calm. It is not fatal, they have an opportunity to go to their constituencies to vote,” he said.

Mr Dzakpasu said the EC held a meeting with the Police Administration after the first special voting, during which the commission explained that the security agencies should deploy those who could not vote in the special voting exercise to their respective constituencies to vote on December 7 and continue to provide security at the polling centres.

The special voting exercise was first held last Thursday, and about 30 per cent of the security personnel, journalists and EC officials who had submitted their names for the exercise could not vote because their names and voter identity numbers were not captured.

Consequently, the EC and political parties agreed to conduct the special voting again yesterday to allow the commission to capture the details of the affected people and allow them to vote.

Police on voting

Meanwhile, the Police Administration has given an assurance to all police officers who could not vote on the special voting day that they would be allowed to vote in the general exercise on December 7.

A statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Superintendent of Police, Mr Cephas Arthur, said: “Personnel who are thus affected are entreated to exercise patience, as provisions have been made to enable them to exercise their franchise.”

It said all regional, divisional and district commanders had been directed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to arrange to ensure that their subordinates who could not exercise their franchise during the special voting could do so on the general election day.

Special Voting

In a related development, the Military High Command has made special arrangements to enable officers and men of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) who could not vote on the two designated days for special voting to vote on December 7, 2016 reports Mabel Aku Baneseh, ACCRA.

A special form has been placed at the Burma Hall voting centre at Burma Camp to enable affected officers and men of the GAF to provide their names, polling stations and voter identification numbers.

According to the Presiding Officer of the Special Voting Burma Hall C, Mr Seth Osei Obese, 535 persons voted last Thursday.

He said 3,330 people were expected to vote at La Dadekotopon but 2,300 voted last Thursday.

Yesterday

Mr Obese said 40 people had voted as of 2 p.m. yesterday, while 20 persons were turned away because their names were not in the register.

However, they have since written down their names for deployment to the various constituencies where they registered.

Confirmed

Confirming the arrangement to the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday, the Director of Public Relations of the GAF, Colonel Eric Aggrey-Quashie, said the arrangement was meant “to alert their units to deploy them to places that they can vote.

EC Position

Earlier, the Electoral Commission (EC) issued a statement on its Facebook page highlighting what qualified one to vote as a special voter.

It listed them as voters whose names are included in either the earlier Special Voters list or the updated one provided to the political parties, persons who transferred their vote and whose name appeared on the Special Voters list but who could not vote on December 1, 2016 and persons whose names appeared on the Special Voters list in the constituency where they were registered to vote.

“The Commission never stated anywhere that it was going to compile a new list of Special Voters for today's exercise.

“Please note that if your name does not belong to any of the above categories, then you must wait to vote at your polling station on December 7.

“Being an officer of the security agencies does not give you an automatic right to vote anywhere you wish to. Procedures must be complied with,” the statement noted.

Smooth Voting

Touching on the voting exercise, it said, “At midday, all our regional directors confirmed that voting has gone on smoothly at all the 275 constituencies except the few cases of some officers whose names are not on the special voters’ list. That is not the fault of the commission.”

“But for such persons, they still have the chance to vote on Election Day. We have advised their respective high commands to deploy them to work at the polling stations where they registered, so they can vote,” the statement added.

Madina

Three political parties in Madina, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), and the Progressive People's Party (PPP) have expressed their disappointment at the manner in which the EC organised the special voting, Abdul-Jalil Yakubu reports.

According to their party agents, the commission should have provided a new list for special voters, particularly, those in the security services who did not find their names in the register last Thursday for them to cast their ballot.

However, they said the EC was still using the same register which was used on Thursday, a situation that made the voting process very slow.

Speaking to the Daily Graphic they described yesterday's special voting process as waste of time.

Meanwhile as at 9:20 a.m. 12 persons had cast their ballots, with 376 voters more on the register to cast their ballot.

In all, 1195 prospective voters were expected to cast their ballot last Thursday but 804 were able to cast their ballot, the Electoral Officer of the constituency, Mr Kingsley Owusu-Ansah, said.

Severious Kale-Dery reports that at the Adentan Barrier, only 36 had voted as at 10.44 a.m. when the Daily Graphic visited the polling centre.

Two hundred and seventy-seven voters were expected to cast their votes yesterday as part of the special voting exercise.

Out of the total number of 823 voters expected last Thursday to cast their votes as part of the special voting exercise, 546 were able to vote.

According to the Returning Officer at the polling station, Mr Joseph Nueh, it was anticipated that those expected to vote would take up the opportunity to exercise their civic right.

At the Osu and James Town Police stations, the turnout was low. When the Daily Graphic visited those polling stations at about 4 p.m., the number of expected voters at the Osu Police Station was 400 but only 53 people had voted, while at the James Town Police Station, out of the 266 expected voters, only 54 had voted.

At the Kaneshie Police Station Polling Station, the Presiding Officer, Mr Charles Tackie Davis, said the turnout was encouraging though some of the voters who came to vote went away disappointed because their names were not on the voters’ list.

Tema

The situation at the Community 8 polling station in Tema Central was not different from what pertained during last Thursday's exercise, Benjamin Xornam Glover reports.

Tema Central has a total of 458 special voters out of which 301 voted last Thursday, leaving 157 voters to vote yesterday, but at the close of polls, only 30 succeeded in voting.

A number the security personnel and agents of the EC had to leave the polling station dejected because for a second time, their names were not captured in the special voters’ list compiled for the exercise.

At about 3:30 p.m., the NPP parliamentary candidate for Tema Central, Mr Kofi Brako, who was visiting the polling station allegedly verbally and physically assaulted the Returning Officer, Mr Isaac Asamoah.

 Mr Brako, who was apparently not happy about the positioning of the voting screens, had engaged the Returning Officer in a discussion.

In the course of the discussion, the MP verbally assaulted the EC official, and attempted to slap him.

The two were later separated after which the MP drove off.

From Tema, Della Russel Ocloo reports that the mop up exercise to allow early voters who could not exercise their franchise on December 1, 2016 recorded a low turn out in the Tema West and East constituencies.

Of the 880 registered special voters, 311 were supposed to cast their ballot at Tema West but as at 2:40 p.m., 45 people had voted. The situation was not different at Tema East where out of the 652 registered special voters, 220 people who were supposed to vote yesterday, only 36 had voted as at 3:30 p.m.

Bolgatanga

In the Upper East Region, Alhandu Abdul-Hamid reports that the second round of special voting took off smoothly in the region with the names of few voters still missing in the register.

Voting started exactly at 7a.m. at the House of Chiefs polling centre in the Bolgatanga Central Constituency as officials of the Electoral Commission arrived early to set up for the exercise.

As at 12 noon, a total of 40 registered voters had cast their ballots with four of them turned away as their names could not be found on the register.

Wa

 Michael Quaye, reports  that there was virtual voter apathy in Wa on Sunday as Circuit Court polling station remained short of the activity of last Thursday’s earlier special voting exercise.

As of 1 p.m., just 50 people out of over 400 voters had cast their votes.

Observers believed Sunday’s church service could be a factor, but some police officers whose unit was mostly hit by the confusion around the list contained in the special voter’s register, claimed some of their colleagues had simply lost interest in the exercise.

Indeed, the Ghana Police Service in Wa had compiled a list of 48 officers who did not find their names in either of the two registers supplied for the purposes by 1 p.m.

 Sunyani

In the Brong Ahafo, Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah reports that the second round of the special voting exercise in the region started at the centres yesterday morning with some of the prospective voters not finding their names in the two separate registers that were provided by the EC for the exercise.

Some of the prospective voters who travelled from different regions with the hope to exercise their franchise were disappointed when they were told by officials of the EC that they could not vote because their names were not included in the two registers.

The Presiding Officer at the Police headquarters polling station, Mr Yaw Amaniampong, explained to the Daily Graphic that for anyone to be allowed to vote, his or her name should be in either of the two registers while his or her voters’ identity card should also bear the code of the centre.

Special voting continued in Cape Coast South but some voters still could not find their names on the register, Shirley Asiedu –Addo reports.

 The Presiding Officer at the station, Mr Alfred Adongo, said about 10 people had already been turned away because their names were not on the list. By 9:30 a.m. about 15 people had cast their vote out of the total of 222 voters expected to vote at the station.

From Ho, Tim Dzamboe reports that the second phase of the special voting exercise for members of the security services went on well in Ho but was still saddled with missing names.

The Returning Officer, Mr Stephen Dzorkpata, said there was a mismatch of identification numbers of the voters, making it impossible for the central system to pick data on them and said head office of EC was picking intelligence to enable it react promptly to forestall the occurrence before voting day on Wednesday.

Kumasi

As at 9 a.m., only 32 people had voted at the Nhyiaeso polling station out of the 325 expected to vote during the second round of the special voting exercise reports Fred Amoah from Kumasi. Some voters who could not find their names on December 1, 2016 still could not find their names during the second round of voting.

From Takoradi, Akwasi Ampratwum-Mensah reports that the confusion that rocked the special voting exercise last Thursday reared its head during the extension of the event yesterday.

Some security personnel at the Police Canteen Polling Station (PS) in Takoradi in the Western Region, could still not trace their names in the special voters list while those whose names appeared together with their pictures and identification (ID) numbers were not allowed to vote.

Some of them vowed to invoke curses on the elections officials, using their respective gods and deities if they were disenfranchised.

However, Mr Prince Acheampong, the Returning Officer, explained to the Daily Graphic that those eligible voters had different code numbers rather than those of the Takoradi Constituency, and that the law did not permit them to vote, except to go back to their original registration centres to cast their ballot on the Election Day.