Special Polls Orderly • Pockets Of Distractions Recorded
A Special voting exercise took place across the country yesterday for security and media personels and staff members of the Electoral Commission (EC) who will perform duties on election day, December 7.
Voting started at the designated centres at 7.00 a.m. and ended at 5.00 p.m., after which the ballot boxes were kept under police guard and will remain so until Sunday when the ballots will be counted.
In the Greater Accra Region, voting went on smoothly at most of the centres visited but there were pockets of confusion at others.
At the Osu Police Barracks Polling Centre, voting was halted by the NDC and the CPP parliamentary candidates for Korley Klotttey who claimed that the electoral officers were taking down the names and polling station numbers of propective voters and allowing them to vote, instead of going according to the list of special voters they had.
At the Cantonments Police Station, Burma Hall, Teshie Military Academy, Teshie Police Station and Kpeshie Divisional Police Command polling centres, voting went on smoothly throug the same process of writing down the names of voters.
At Amasaman, apart from a campaign vehicle of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) pulling up at the District Electoral Commission Office close to where the special voting exercise was taking place which attracted protests from the NDC accredited agent, the voting was conducted in a cordial atmosphere.
The NDC agent protested to the returning officer, who ordered the vehicle to leave the vicinity.
The occupant of the vehicle complied and sped off.
Mr Richard Wormenor, the returning officer, said as of 10.00 a.m. 229 voters had cast their ballots from an expected number of 500.
In Koforidua, voting went on smoothly at the two polling centres, one near the Police Training School and the other at the Effiduasi Police Station, which were set up for the exercise.
At the Police Training School Polling Station, 970 voters, made up of security men, journalists, staff recruited by the EC and others who would help conduct the same exercise on December 7, started voting at exactly 7.00 a.m.
The Returning Officer for the New Juaben North Constituency, Mr Joseph Kwasi, who was at the Effiduasi Police Station, was happy that the exercise had gone on successfully.
A significant aspect of the exercise was that only the NPP, the NDC, the PNC and an independent parliamentary candidate had agents at the two polling stations.
In Tamale, the exercise took off smoothly at all the three polling stations located at the Kamina and the Police barracks, as well as the Dabokpa Vocational Training Institute. It was characterised by long queues in the morning, with no untoward incidents being recorded.
The Metropolitan Electoral Officer, Mr Mahama Nuhu, expressed optimism that the 3,000 prospective voters would cast their votes before the 5.00 p.m. deadline.
The Presiding Officer, Mr George Konlan, said voting began on time, was peaceful and orderly.
He said he was impressed with the orderliness at the centre, which is just in front of the Upper East Regional Police Headquarters, and hoped the same would be seen on December 7.
He said as of 1:20 p.m. 340 voters had cast their ballots.
Some security personnel who had transferred their votes but did not have their names in the special voters list were earlier on prevented from voting by the polling agents, but after consultation with EC officials, the polling agents, as well as the heads of the security agencies, it was agreed that since they would be on duty on election day, they should be made to vote.
The Upper East Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police DCOP Alhaji Hamidu Mahama, was among those who voted early on the special day.