Western and Eastern Regions will not take part in today’s (Monday, December 2) special voting, the Electoral Commission (EC) has announced.
This follows an incident that forced the EC to order a recall and a reprinting of ballots for the said regions after reports of a defaced ballot paper.
As a result, the special voting exercise for these two regions has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 5.
The special voting, held ahead of the main election on Saturday, December 7, 2024, would allow eligible voters involved in election-related duties, including election officials, security personnel, and media practitioners, to cast their ballots early.
Some 131,478 voters of the total registered voters (18,741,159), are expected to participate in the Special Voting.
The EC has confirmed that all election materials have been deployed to the centres and is fully prepared for the exercise.
She said votes cast during the Special Voting will not be counted on the day of the exercise.
Instead, they will be counted on December 7 at the Constituency Collation Centres and added to the results from the main election.
The Returning Officer at each Constituency Collation Centre will record these results separately on both the Presidential and Parliamentary Election Results Collation Forms, before including them in the final tally from all polling stations.
To ensure security, all ballot boxes will be sealed and stored in a secured room at a Police Station within each constituency.
The EC has also directed that Presiding Officers do not count the ballots cast during the Special Voting on that day.
The National Elections Security Taskforce, chaired by Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector-General of Police, has reassured the public of its readiness to provide maximum security to ensure the peaceful and safe conduct of the elections.