Special Voting Exercise for 2024 Elections Begins Today, Excluding Eastern and Western Regions

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Politics Special Voting Garu
Special Voting Garu

The Special Voting exercise for the 2024 general elections is set to take place today, Monday, December 2, across 14 regions in Ghana.

Approximately 131,478 voters, or 0.007% of the total registered electorate of 18,741,159, are expected to participate in this exercise. However, the Eastern and Western Regions have been excluded from today’s voting.

Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), explained the exclusion of these two regions during a press briefing on Sunday, December 1. She revealed that a defaced ballot paper meant for the Presidential election in the Eastern Region had been leaked from the printing house. As a result, the decision was made to reschedule the special voting for both regions to Thursday, December 5, 2024.

“The special voting for Eastern and Western Regions will not take place on Monday, December 2, as planned. It will now take place on Thursday, December 5,” Jean Mensa confirmed. She explained that although the defaced ballot paper was slated for destruction, it was inadvertently taken out of the printing facility. The incident was reported to the EC by the National Security, which confirmed that the defaced ballot had been taken from Rocheck Limited, the printing house.

The EC also revealed that the printing for both regions had been supervised by the National Investigation Bureau, National Security, political party agents, and EC staff. As a precautionary measure, the ballots for both the Eastern and Western Regions have been recalled and reprinted.

To ensure transparency, the EC also engaged three other printing houses to reprint the affected ballots, with details being communicated to the political parties involved.

The Special Voting exercise is designed to accommodate election-related personnel, including members of the Ghana Armed Forces, National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), National Security, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana National Fire Service, Information Services Department, National Ambulance Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Prisons Service, Ghana Journalists Association, Ghana Police Service, and the National Media Commission.

This early voting allows these individuals to cast their ballots without conflicting with their professional duties on the main polling day, set for December 7, 2024. However, the results from the Special Voting will not be declared until after the general election.

The EC has reassured the public that it remains committed to transparency and integrity in the electoral process.

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