Your polling agents will determine your fate on election day - Ben Ephson advises parties

Political parties that do not have committed party agents at the various polling stations might lose the elections, Pollster and Managing Editor of Daily Dispatch, Ben Ephson has said.

According to him, the Electoral Commission (EC) does not have the power to rig the election but the party agents that are contracted by the various political parties who have the power to rig the election.

Speaking on Atinka TV’s Morning show, Ghana Nie, hosted by Nana Owusu Nkrumah, Ben Ephson explained that, "the EC cannot rig the elections, it is you the political party that will allow yourselves to be rigged. If you do not have a committed party supporter who will be your polling agent."

He noted that in 2016, the maximum number of voters per polling station was 1000, and if the people were more than 1,000, the EC created another polling station.

However, for the 2020 election, the EC said due to Covid-19, the maximum number of voters will be 700, also noting that 70 per cent of the polling stations will not be more than 500.

Ben Ephson stated that despite the maximum number of voters if the party agents are not committed and are influenced by other party agents with money to leave the polling station, the numbers can be transferred or added to that of the opponent.

“If you do not have a committed polling agent, by midnight, they can manipulate the person with money to leave and then you will be rigged,” he said.

He urged the youth to desist from violence during the election.

“If someone influences you with money to steal a ballot box, tell the person to add his or her child. Because if he has a ticket to travel, he will go with his family, not you, so if someone tells you that, report the person to the police,” he advised.