By Jones Anlimah
A total of 1,023,836 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in 2,351 polling centers across the Volta Region in the ongoing 2024 voting exercise. In the Ho Central Constituency of the region, 112,363 voters are expected to cast their votes in 254 polling centers.
The Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Eric Kofi Dzakpasu, in an interview with GBC, stated that the exercise started on time across the region and has been generally peaceful and smooth.
As of 6:15 a.m. this morning, at the Sport Stadium Office Ho-Ahoe Center 1, Ho Sport Stadium Office 2A and 2B, and the United Pentecostal Primary School Ho-Ahoe A and B, Electoral Commission officers were ready and waiting for the arrival of party agents, especially from the two main political parties, the NPP and the NDC, before opening their boxes for the voting process to begin.
According to the presiding officers at these polling stations, they received their materials at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning. Voters had also queued in anticipation of casting their votes.
At the Ho Regional Museum Polling Center 2, 15 out of 472 expected voters had cast their votes as of 7:20 a.m. The presiding officer, Gloria Atidzah, told GBC NEWS that voting started exactly at 7:00 a.m. and there have been no issues. Party agents for the NPP, NDC, and independent candidates for both the parliamentary and presidential elections were present to monitor the voting process.
Observers from the African Union were also present, and police officers were on-site to ensure an incident-free exercise.
The situation at Ho Regional Museum Polling Center 1 was similar. Here, 19 out of 570 expected voters had cast their votes as of 7:33 a.m., consisting of 15 males and 4 females. At the Social Center SSNIT Flat Center 2A, 26 out of 410 voters had cast their ballots as of 7:52 a.m. This consisted of 13 men and 13 women. According to the presiding officer, Esi Klu, voting started on time, and there were no issues as of the time of filing this report.
At the SSNIT Flat Social Center 1A, the situation was not different, although the NPP did not have an agent representing it at the time of filing this report. As of 8:10 a.m., 48 out of 405 expected voters had cast their votes, consisting of 25 males and 23 females. At the SSNIT Flat Social Center 1B, 44 voters had cast their ballots as of 8:22 a.m. Out of the 404 expected voters, 25 males and 19 females had voted.
At the Nuriya JHS Ho Zongo 1, 609 enthusiastic voters had lined up to cast their votes. By 9:02 a.m., 56 voters, comprising 25 females and 31 males, had cast their ballots. The presiding officer, Bernard Atsyor, told GBCNEWS that the exercise, since it started at 7:00 a.m., had been generally peaceful and smooth.
The situation at Nuriya JHS Ho Zongo 2B was similar. By 9:13 a.m., 92 out of 730 expected voters, comprising 49 females and 43 males, had cast their ballots. The exercise began on time in a peaceful atmosphere. At Nuriya JHS Ho Zongo 2A, where 731 voters are expected to vote, 84 voters had cast their ballots as of 9:20 a.m., consisting of 47 males and 37 females. The presiding officer, Raymond Baabe, told GBCNEWS that voting generally started on time and had been smooth and peaceful.
The Volta Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, Mr. Eric Dzakpasu, in an interview with GBCNEWS, stated that materials were dispatched to various polling centers on time for the commencement of the exercise. He called on all eligible voters to go out and exercise their franchise in a peaceful atmosphere.
