By: Rachel Kakraba
Director of Training of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoo, has assured the public of the integrity of special votes. He emphasized that after the close of polls, the votes are securely stored in designated police armories. The ballots are then added to the December 7 ballots for counting. In an interview with GBC NEWS, Dr. Quaicoo urged the public to dismiss the misconception that the special votes are counted immediately and a winner declared, which could reveal voting patterns prematurely.
“You don’t count the ballot on the 2nd of December, or the special voting day. The commission will seal it, with our seal, the political parties also put their seals on them, then they are kept at the police armory. Then after voting on the 7th of December, the ballot boxes will be brought to the coalition centre where the additions are going to be done”
“The law does not allow the Commission to count the ballot paper on the special voting day. They are all counted after the close of polls on the 7th of December” he added.
Dr. Serebour Quaicoo, was addressing journalists during a hybrid event dubbed the Accountability Platform of the GJA as part of activities of the Journalists for Peaceful Discourse Project.
The 10-month initiative Peaceful Discourse Project, by the US Embassy, and the Ghana Journalists Association is to foster peaceful media coverage leading up to the 2024 election. The project’s Accountability Platform provided a space for beneficiaries and stakeholders to share feedback and address emerging electoral issues.
Addressing the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s position on Saturday voting, Dr. Serebour Quaicoo stated that the issue is purely religious. He dismissed suggestions that church members should be allowed to vote in special voting, explaining that eligibility for special voting is explicitly defined by law.
“if you look at CI 127, regulation 50, then look at the special voters, it reiterates that journalists, or the media, the Electoral Commission, and the security services, by the nature of their work on the election day, cannot be at where they registered. So they are allowed to be on the special voters list, so they can vote on the 2nd of December”
He also assured that the use of the church facilities will not negatively impact the conduct of the general election.
“We’ve had a lot of meetings with them. It is their religious belief; we cannot impose anything on them. It doesn’t mean that we set up polling station in the church we can use the locations within the environment”
Dr. Serebour Quaicoo, encouraged the media to commence accreditation processes for election coverage early enough to avoid last minute rush.
