Election 2020: CODEO records 235 incidents during voting

The Coalition of Domestic Observers (CODEO) had recorded 235 cases of various incidents from all the 4,400 polling stations where it deployed observers.

It said the top five of these reported incidents are intimidation/harassment, violation of COVID-19 health and safety protocols, violence of various kinds, unauthorised persons at polling stations and malfunctioning of biometric devices”,

In a press statement signed by Albert Arhin, the National Coordinator of CODEO said in the mid-day situational report it presented to the public on its findings on the set-up, the opening of polling stations, and few incidences received from 1,499 out of the 1,502 Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) Observers (i.e., 99.8%) located in all 275 Constituencies in the 16 regions of the country on Election Day.

The statement said based on the findings, CODEO confidently confirmed that the arrangements put in place by the Electoral Commission(EC) for the setup and opening of polls were adequate for most polling stations.

“This close of polls statement focuses mainly on the voting processes, and several incidents received from 1,486 out of the 1,502 PVT Observers (i.e., 98.9%) located in all 275 constituencies in the 16 regions of the country on Election Day.

“CODEO is continuing to observe the counting of ballots at polling stations, constituency and national collation centres, continues to receive information on vote count from its nationally deployed observers and will update the public on new and additional information it receives from its PVT observers.

“Also, CODEO will be releasing a more detailed preliminary statement on the conduct of the elections as occurred on Monday, December 7, 2020, in the meantime, CODEO urgently calls on the Election Security Taskforce, particularly the Ahafo Regional Command, to facilitate the speedy processing of the CODEO observer so he can quickly be released to complete his observation assignment.

“CODEO also appeals to all Ghanaians to continue to remain calm, be law-abiding, continue to respect the COVID-19 safety protocols and be measured in their reaction to results being announced from the polling stations, constituency and the national collation centres,” the statement.