Special Voting : EC opens registration ahead of December polls

The Electoral Commission (EC) has accepted applications for special voting for qualifying institutions and people, with a date set for Monday, December 2, 2024.

It will close applications for qualified individuals with a just cause to be granted this voting rights on July 1. This rights will not be granted automatically; qualified individuals must apply for them.

It would take place in all 276 constituencies across the country, with each voter expected to vote in the constituency designated on their Voter ID card.

The special voting exercise is guaranteed by Regulation 3(1) of Constitutional Instrument (CI) 127, which states that a voter may apply to the returning officer of the constituency in which the voter is registered to be entered as a special voter if the voter is unable to attend the polling station where the voter registered due to election duties on election day.

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Staff from the military, police, Immigration Service, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Prisons Service, Fire Service, polling officers, and permanent staff of the EC and the media are eligible to vote.

Applicants seeking this voting right must be registered voters in the constituencies where they want to vote.

Those who are granted special voting rights will have their names deleted from the regular voting lists for the December 7 elections. “The intention is to prevent double-voting,” the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, stated, emphasizing that the commission has implemented severe procedures to prevent the public from undermining the unique procedure.

According to Mrs Mensa, the district police headquarters in each constituency have been designated as special voting locations. She stated that when the number of voters assigned to a centre exceeds the EC’s 750 threshold, “another voting centre is designated as a centre to facilitate the process within the same centre.”

She stated that in order to ensure a smooth application and procedure for all of these voting applicants, they should apply directly to the Returning Officer of the constituency in which they are registered voters.

Application process

Mrs Mensa stated that those requesting for special voting were asked to bring a document from their institutions stating that they were employees of that institution. “Members of institutions who wish to apply as a group may submit a list of their officials to the Returning Officer to act as a register to help with the process.

The list must include each applicant’s name, voter ID number, and polling station code as shown on the voter ID card. These details will allow the Returning Officer to determine whether the applicant is a registered voter in the constituency.

“Note that all applicants must apply in person to the Returning Officer,” the EC Chairperson emphasized. She also recommended candidates who had misplaced their voter ID cards to replace them during the exercise so that they could mention the right information on their applications.