No face mask no vote – EC

Voters who go to the polling station without face masks on election day will be handed over to the Police, the Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Benjamin Bannor-Bio has disclosed.

Such persons will also not be allowed to vote.

The Ashanti Regional Director of the EC disclosed this at a workshop organised in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for journalists in the region on Thursday, 26 November 2020 ahead of the December polls.

Mr Bannor-Bio indicated that the Commission will ensure the compulsory wearing of face masks on 7 December.

“If the person does not wear face mask and wants to come and vote, we’ll hand him or her to the Police. I must indicate here that we have supplied more than enough PPE to our officials and no polling station should run out of any PPE," he said.

He urged journalists to notify the police of any observations with regards to PPE during the election.

Mr Bannor-Bio further indicated that temperatures of voters will be checked by the COVID-19 ambassador, and voters will be required to wash their hands on arrival at the polling centre as well as observe social distance.

The Ashanti Regional EC Director also noted that voters will be made to sanitise their hands before using the scan machine which will also be cleaned before each usage.

Voters will also be required to sanitise their hands before leaving the polling stations to avoid the spread of COVID-19.

Mr Bannor-Bio urged eligible voters to wear their face masks and observe all the protocols put in place at the various polling stations.