The Electoral Commission has warned that any voter who breaches the rules of secret ballot at Saturday’s election of a flag bearer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) towards the 2016 elections would have their ballot rejected.
The Electoral Commission has warned that any voter who breaches the rules of secret ballot at Saturday’s election of a flag bearer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) towards the 2016 elections would have their ballot rejected.
According to Ms Sylvia Annor, a Principal Public Relations Officer at the Commission, any act that violates the rules of the elections would not be tolerated.
At the last primaries in August, which shortlisted the candidates from seven to five, national party chairman, Mr Paul Afoko, and Ashanti Regional Chairman, Antwi Boasiako, deliberately displayed their ballots before they dropped it in the box.
While Mr Afoko, after casting his vote, showed it to his aide who in turn told other people, Antwi Boasiako raised his ballot for all gathered to see. All these incidents happened in Kumasi.
Listen to Sylvia Annor speaking on Peace FM
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Speaking on the preparedness of the commission for the elections on Accra-based Peace FM Monday morning, Ms Annor said such acts would not be tolerated on Saturday.
She said once the rules say 'secret ballot', it should be observed as such.
If you go home and decide to tell someone. that is fine. But at the polling station, the rule must apply, she added.
Ms Annor explained that delegates can wear NPP T-shirts to the polling station but they should ensure that it does not have the pictures or names of the contesting candidates in it.
She announced the commission was ready and that all ballot papers had been printed and they had identified all 276 polling stations in the country in collaboration with the party.
She said all 275 constituencies would have one polling station in addition to one at NPP national headquarters in Accra.
Five days to go
With five days to go, the three shortlisted presidential hopefuls are rounding off their campaigns, each of them full of confidence that the over 140,000 delegates will eventually endorse his candidature.
The leading candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who garnered 80.81 per cent of the votes in the party’s Special Electoral College on August 31, 2014; Mr John Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, who got 7.9 per cent, and the new kid on the block, Francis Addai-Nimoh, the MP for Asante Mampong, who had 2.9 per cent, are fiercely contesting to become the flag bearer of the party for the 2016 presidential election.
Nana Akufo-Addo, the two-time presidential candidate of the party, and Mr Kyerematen, the twice attempted presidential aspirant, have seen it all when it comes to NPP politics, while Mr Addai-Nimoh is in a historic campaign, daring the established names and faces to become the party’s flag bearer.
The three candidates are all banking their hopes on the delegates, who were described by the party’s immediate past General Secretary, Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie, as “more fearful than ghosts” when he lost his re-election bid.
There is, however, evidence of high expectation within the camps of the three aspirants, who are all hoping to do exceedingly well at the presidential primary on Saturday.
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