Election 2020: Electoral officer appeals for provision of nose masks at polling centres

Correspondence from Upper East Region

The Electoral Officer for the Kassena-Nankana Municipal Assembly in the Upper East Region, Tetteh Ankama Okyne, has suggested the provision of nose masks at Polling Centres as one of the best interventions against the spread of the deadly Coronavirus Disease during the election.

He said nose masks should be provided at Polling centres which can be supplied to electorates who turn up to participate in the election without masks .

Mr. Tetteh noted that when such provisions are made it would help the EC reduce the chances of infection of the CORONAVIRUS Disease at the centres.

The Electoral Officer who made the suggestion based on observations he made during the Special Voting at the Navrongo Central Constituency, said the provision would also enable people who arrive at the centres with the masks exercise their franchise with interruption.

He therefore appealed to government to assist the Electoral Commission to provide nose masks so that the process on December 7, 2020 can be smooth.

On the close of polls at the centre, Mr. Tetteh revealed that 553 Special Voters turned out for the exercise out of a total of 622 in the constituency.

He described the exercise as generally being successful, adding that the social distancing measure made the process very transparent as everyone could see what was happening at the centre.

He said, "the social distancing makes everybody see the process transparently, people don't really mass up at one place so if you're standing from afar, you can see what's actually happening".

He added that "in my opinion if you can observe social distancing even without the COVID-19, on other election days, people will have more trust in it".

When the polls were over, Mr. Tetteh and his team sealed all the ballot boxes in the presence of party representatives for store at the Police Command till end of polls on December 7 when they would be reopened and counted.