Voting started throughout Ghana at 0700 hours, Friday, to
elect a President and 275 Legislators for the sixth Parliament of
the Fourth Republic with long queues of voters waiting patiently to
cast their votes.
Polling officially ends at 1700 hours. All voters in queues
before 1700 hours would be allowed to vote. The security details
at the polling centres are expected to join the end of the
queues when it is time to ensure that nobody else joins in after
the close of the polls.
Counting would start at the polling centres after the last voter has cast his or her
vote. The first results are expected late on Saturday night or
early Sunday morning. The Electoral Commission expects all results
to be declared within 72 hours.
Early Voters at some polling stations said they started
forming queues as early as 0200 hours when GNA
visited.
At the Musuku Presby Church Polling Station in the Dome
Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, a voter, Mr Kojo
Bempa together with his wife told GNA they wanted to be the first
to cast their vote and so they went to the centre at 0350 hours.
Mr Bempa said after casting the vote he was going to attend to other duties before
coming back to listen to the results later in the day.
GNA observed that there were no hitches as voters went
through the various process to go through the biometric register
and check their names for voting.
Though the queues was huge, prospective voters told the GNA
they were not perturbed because voting was a right as well as a
national duty which they needed to perform.
For instance Kwadwo Asare, a 24 year old first voter was very
happy that he was taking part in the exercise.
“As a student living outside my constituency, I never had the
opportunity to vote in the previous elections though I was
qualified to do so, I am therefore happy to be part of the exercise
this time.
Madam Esi Abokuma, who is 75 years was not left out of the
exercise, and because of her age, she was giving a seat to rest for
sometime before voting instead of joining the queue and she was
grateful for that.
It is good that officer have recognised my age and given me
the due respect. I had always dreaded the fact that I was going to
join the queue, but I am happy and grateful that I have escaped the
ordeal.
Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission
(EC), on Wednesday told journalists the voting procedures remained
the same.
"The voting pattern is transparent and at each point of the
voting process there is an identifiable glaring system, which would
make it impossible for anyone to cheat.
"The result of any polling station where the number of votes
cast would exceed the number of registered voters and those who
have lawfully transferred their votes would be
cancelled.”
Dr Afari-Gyan urged Ghanaians, especially political party
representatives, to avoid making wild allegations about imagined
electoral fraud and suspicions and said the entire process would
take place in the open view of the public.
The EC Chairman said Presiding Officers in-charge of polling
stations would inspect the ballot papers in the presence of the
agents; enter the total number in a booklet; show the ballot boxes
to the public to ascertain that they were empty and then place them
in the open for voting.
Dr Afari-Gyan said accredited local and international
observers, journalists, national and regional executive members of
contesting political parties, security personnel, contesting
candidates and spouses and monitors were permitted to visit the
polling stations.
He advised all accredited officials to wear their prescribed
identification tags – exhibiting their photograph, name,
organisation and mandate.
Dr Afari-Gyan reiterated that accredited EC officials were
responsible for the conduct of the elections and were not subject
to the dictates of anybody.
They should, therefore, be allowed to work without
unnecessary interference from any quarters.
