We're set for election 2016 - EC

The chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Charlotte Osei, has stated that materials to be used for the conduct of Wednesday’s presidential and parliamentary elections have been dispatched to all stations.

“…Barring any unforeseen circumstances we expect elections materials to arrive early at all polling stations and we expect the polls to open at exactly 7am and close at 5pm,” Mrs. Osei told journalists on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s polls.

“If you’re in the queue at 5pm, you’ll be allowed to vote no matter how long it takes,” she added.

She said polling stations will be opened until the last voter in the queue at 5pm casts his or her ballot.

According to her, the commission anticipates a voter turnout of 80% in tandem with the 80% turnout during the special voting exercise organized for officials of the EC, security personnel and journalists.

The early voting exercise held on December 1, 2016 was inundated with concerns of missing names, leading to chaos in some polling stations, where security personnel vandalized voting materials.

The challenges that faced the early voting exercise, Mrs. Osei told journalists were unfortunate explaining that it was the intention of the commission to disenfranchise voters.

“…It is not in our interest to deny anyone the right to exercise their franchise and so the challenges could have been avoided but they were not intentional…” she said, adding that arrangements have been made to ensure that those who could not vote in the special voting exercise vote tomorrow.