The Electoral Commission (EC) has commenced the nationwide Special Voting exercise today, allowing election officials, security personnel, and media practitioners to cast their ballots ahead of Ghana's December 7 general elections.

Initially planned to take place at 328 centres, the exercise in the Western and Eastern Regions has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 5, 2024, following a recall and reprinting of ballot papers due to a leakage incident.

A total of 131,478 eligible voters, representing 0.007% of Ghana's 18.7 million voter population, are expected to participate in the exercise.

Polling stations opened at 7 am and will close at 5 pm.

Special Voting Process
EC Chairperson Jean Mensa, addressing the media last Friday, reaffirmed the Commission's commitment to conducting a transparent, credible, and peaceful election.

She clarified that only those who applied for Special Voting are eligible to vote today, while others ineligible can still vote during the main election on December 7.

Votes cast during the Special Voting exercise will not be counted immediately.

Instead, they will be tallied on December 7 at the Constituency Collation Centres and subsequently added to the overall election results.

At the collation centres, the Returning Officers will separately record results from the Special Voting exercise on the Presidential and Parliamentary Election Results Collation Forms before integrating them into the constituency's overall results.

Security Measures
To ensure the integrity of the process, all ballot boxes will be securely sealed and stored at police stations within the constituencies until December 7.

The EC has instructed Presiding Officers to strictly adhere to these protocols and refrain from counting the Special Voting ballots before the official collation date.

The EC’s decision to postpone voting in the Western and Eastern Regions has drawn attention following concerns raised by political parties, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the People’s National Convention (PNC), who have called for an investigation into the ballot paper leakage.

This exercise is a crucial part of the preparations for the December 7 elections, with stakeholders closely monitoring the process to ensure fairness and credibility.