Security officers going through the voting process
The special voting exercise for the 2024 general election was conducted peacefully and without significant challenges across 14 regions of the country.
This exercise, held to allow security personnel, electoral officials, and media practitioners who will be on duty during the December 7 general election to cast their ballots early, was widely described as smooth and well-organised.
At polling stations nationwide, voting commenced promptly at 7 a.m., with officials ensuring that the process ran efficiently. Measures were in place to prevent delays, including adequate deployment of voting materials and personnel.
Accra
In the Greater Accra Region, Prince Fiifi Yorke reports that several polling centres recorded early turnouts, with voters forming orderly queues to cast their ballots.
According to him, in the Ayawaso East and Central Constituencies, the exercise was conducted peacefully and efficiently, with no significant challenges reported.
The exercise was held at the Nima Police Station and the Accra Technical Training Centre (ATTC) for the Ayawaso East and Ayawaso Central Constituencies respectively.
Voting began promptly at 7 a.m. across the centres, with electoral officers ensuring a seamless process.
Voters queued orderly, waiting for their turn to go through the electoral process.
Presiding Officer at the Nima Police Station polling centre, Samuel Anim Ofori, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the exercise. “The process has been smooth so far, and we have not encountered any issues. Voter turnout is encouraging,” he remarked.
By 4:00 p.m., a significant number of registered special voters (243 out of 298) had cast their ballots. Election observers from organisations such as the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and the Electoral Commission (EC) were present to monitor the process.
Representatives of the two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were also present to observe the exercise.
Speaking to DAILY GUIDE, the Presiding Officers for Central Polling Station A and Polling Station B, Gladstone Agboada and Abrokwa Billings, reassured voters that the general election process would be as smooth as the special voting exercise.
“We are committed to ensuring a free, fair, and transparent election for all eligible voters,” they said.
With approximately 761 special voters expected to cast their ballots in the two centres in Ayawaso Central Constituency, the EC officials projected a high turnout by the close of polls at 5 p.m.
Similar reports emerged from other regions, where the process was monitored by election observers, including the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) and international representatives.
Sunyani
From Sunyani, Daniel Y. Dayee reports that a total of 6,473 special voters in the Bono Region exercised their franchise in the special voting exercise yesterday.
According to him, the special voters cast their ballots at 14 polling stations across the region.
The exercise was peaceful and orderly, with no major incidents reported, with the special voters demonstrating civility.
The Bono Region has a total of 11 constituencies, including Banda, Berekum East, Berekum West, Dormaa Central, Dormaa East, Dormaa West, Jaman North, Jaman South, Wenchi, Sunyani East, and Sunyani West.
In the Sunyani East Constituency, voting was held at the Regional Police Headquarters, where two polling centres, A and B, were set up.
By 7:10 a.m., when DAILY GUIDE visited the polling centres, electoral officers were setting up for the voting process. Officers from the police, immigration, fire service, and other agencies were already forming queues, waiting to cast their votes.
Voting officially began at approximately 7:17 a.m., slightly later than the scheduled start time of 7 a.m.
The Presiding Officer, Emmanuel Gyabaa, told DAILY GUIDE that everything was in order. “There are 569 voters on the register for polling station A and 568 for polling station B, making a total of 1,137 voters in the Sunyani East Constituency. All security agents and special voters in the constituency are expected to vote at the Regional Police Headquarters,” he reiterated.
By 11:33 a.m., when DAILY GUIDE returned to the centres, 338 voters had cast their ballots at polling centre A, while 323 had voted at centre B. Queues had disappeared, with other voters trickling in one by one to cast their ballots.
The Bono Regional Communication Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Charles Akowua, alleged that the names of 140 military officers were missing from the register.
In response, the Bono Regional Director of the EC, Asirifi Young, clarified that special voters were required to personally submit their names to the EC for compilation. He explained that the list of special voters was later provided to the leadership of their respective organisations.
“If someone failed to submit their name, it will remain on the main register,” he added.
There was no provision for proxy voting, and two individuals with documents seeking to cast proxy votes were denied. “Normally, there is no proxy list for special voters,” Mr. Asirifi explained.
Political party agents from the NPP and NDC were spotted at the various polling centres, and election observers from organisations such as IDEG, CODEO, and CEDEAO were also on the ground.
Kumasi
In the Ashanti Region, I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr reports from Kumasi that the exercise, a precursor to the December 7 general election, was conducted peacefully across the designated polling centres in the region yesterday.
A total of 20,486 eligible voters, including personnel from the military, police, other security agencies, and selected individuals, were expected to cast their ballots at 52 polling stations across 47 constituencies in the region.
Reports gathered by DAILY GUIDE indicated a high voter turnout in the region, which is regarded as the stronghold of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
At the polling centres visited by the paper, a calm and orderly atmosphere prevailed. Voters patiently formed long queues, waiting their turn to cast their ballots in both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
EC officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, expressed satisfaction with the high patronage and the conduct of voters, particularly security personnel.
“We are extremely pleased with the turnout and how the soldiers, police, and other security agents conducted themselves during the exercise,” one EC official said.
The officials also voiced hope that the general election on Saturday, December 7, would follow the same peaceful trend.
“The exercise has been incident-free so far, and we are optimistic that voters on Saturday will also demonstrate the same level of decorum,” another EC staff member remarked.
Tamale
From Tamale in the Northern Region, Eric Kombat reports that the Tamale Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), who is also the NPP parliamentary candidate for the Tamale Central Constituency, Sule Salifu, expressed confidence that his party could win any seat in the Northern Region in the December 7 polls.
He noted that while some parliamentary seats were historically strongholds of the NDC, the NPP had managed to secure these constituencies in recent years.
“A few years ago, the Damongo, Karaga, and Mion seats were held by the NDC, but today, these seats are occupied by the NPP. Therefore, there is no seat that cannot be won, and no seat is destined to remain with the NDC,” he stated.
He emphasised that the NPP in the Tamale Central Constituency is working diligently to unseat the incumbent NDC Member of Parliament (MP) and to secure substantial votes for both the parliamentary and presidential candidates in the upcoming elections.
“We are working hard, doing our best, and effectively communicating our messages and policies to the voters in the Tamale Central Constituency. We believe these efforts will convince voters to cast their ballots in favour of the NPP on December 7,” he asserted.
Mr. Salifu made these remarks during a visit to the Jubilee Park voting centre as part of the special voting process.
Meanwhile, three officers expected to vote at the Tamale South Metro Polling Station, assigned to the Tamale South Constituency, were unable to cast their ballots because their names were not found in the voter list.
The three individuals, comprising two soldiers and a fire officer, were left with no option but to return home without voting.
Responding to the issue of missing names of security personnel, the Northern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Lucas Yiryel, emphasised the need for security personnel to follow up at the EC office for confirmation and the inclusion of their names on the special voting list.
“It’s not just a matter of adding names when the list is submitted. The officers concerned must personally visit the EC office to confirm their names and prove they are eligible voters,” he explained.
The electoral process was peaceful in the Northern Region, with an early start to voting and security presence at all voting centres.
A total of 7,342 voters were expected to cast their ballots in 18 constituencies during the special voting in the Northern Region.
By Daily Guide Reporters