Colloquium on elections 2012 held

Voters now have 42 days instead of the original 21 days to transfer their votes to other polling stations of their choice as provided under the new Electoral Constitutional Instrument (CI 75).

Accordingly, interested voters have to apply for such transfers in the coming days before the election is due.

Mr. Ahmed Sulley, Deputy Chairman, Finance and Administration, Electoral Commission (EC), who announced this at a colloquium on ensuring peaceful elections in Ghana, said such applications of transfer should be done on individual basis and not on behalf of another person or groups of persons.

The colloquium hosted at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre was on the theme: “Preserving National Security in Elections 2012 and Beyond” and it was attended by various security agencies, civil society groups, political parties and religious organizations.

Mr. Sulley said the EC has currently three separate voters’ registration lists made up of one genuine list, multiple or double list and an exceptional list all which totaled about 14 million voters.

He said the EC was consulting with other stakeholders to decide on the fate of those who engaged in double voting and was considering whether to place a ban on them from voting in any general elections until further notice or to persecute such offenders.

Mr. Sulley said the EC also had to create the 45 new constituencies in fulfillment of Article 47 (5) of the Constitution that mandated EC to review the boundaries of the country in a given period and that since 2004 the Commission had not done so despite the fact that Ghana’s population had increased.

He said the Commission was working hard to ensure a successful 2012 elections and that the Police must also do well to provide “total security at the printing house and strong rooms where ballot are kept”.

Mr. Sulley said there should be no sale of alcohol within 500 meters of registration centres on the day of elections and also warned electoral officials to refrain from showing partisanship at polling stations.

Mr. Patrick Timbilla, Police Commissioner in charge of Operations, said the Police would stay above the fray and ensure a congenial and peaceful atmosphere for the entire country.

He appealed to the general public to stay vigilant and help prevent people from ballot box hijacking and the creating chaos at polling stations on Election Day stressing that the Police and other security agencies would not rest on their oars to arrest such misfits who might want to destabilize the country.

He said it was also important for motor riders to park their motorbikes somewhere before they go to the polling station to vote saying various security measures has been rolled out to ensure adequate security measures both at the district and regional levels.

Lieutenant Colonel Larry Gbevlo Lartery, National Security Coordinator, urged the EC to nominate its district electoral officers to chair the various security taskforce to complement efforts of the Police.

Mrs Henrietta Mensah-Bonsu, Director of the Legon Centre for International Affairs (LECIA), appealed to the media to spread the ground rules of the elections and educate the public on their civic responsibilities.