Stick to the 5PM, don’t close polls at 3PM – Majority Leader tells EC

The Majority Leader Osei-Kyei-Mensah Bonsu has told the Electoral Commission (EC) not to close polls at 3 PM as it is proposing.

“If we are sure that we will start early and then create many more polling stations such that by 2 PM, 90 or 95 percent have voted, why not? But we should not create a situation where instead of cleaning up the system we rather end up creating chaos,” he told TV3‘s Beatrice Adu in an interview.

“If you want t end at 3, instead of starting at 7 and beginning at 8, you create chaos,” he stressed.

The Suame lawmaker added, “Another thing I think the EC may have to have a second look at is their discontinuance of the usage of inedible ink, I think they should go back and reconsider it.”

The Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Adukwei Mensa, while announcing the proposal indicated that this would allow electoral officers to collate the votes in broad daylight to ensure transparency and orderliness.

Speaking during an inter-party dialogue and stock-taking conference organized by the National Peace Council in Accra on Thursday, December 14, she intimated that the proposal stems from the experience in the 2020 elections where about 70 percent of voting centres were empty by 1:00pm.

“In 2020, 70 percent of our polling centres had a voter threshold of 500 and below. This time we intend to ensure that all our polling station centers have a threshold of 500 voters and below. In the same vein, we will increase the number of our polling stations nationwide.

“We believe that this will go a long way to reduce the long queues that characterize our elections and allow for a smooth, seamless, hustle-free voting process. In 2020, it took voters not more than five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of this policy.

“Based on our 2020 experience and also feedback from several observer groups we propose to close the polls at 3:00pm.

“Our experience in 2020 reveals that by 1:00pm, 70 percent of our polling stations were empty of voters as most voters had cast their votes. This made it possible because the threshold of most polling centers was reduced to 500 voters per voting center.

“This was coupled with the robust verification devices that were deployed to the polling stations. We are convinced that by closing the polls at 3:00pm, we will be able to count and collate in broad daylight and this will promote the needed transparency and orderliness that we so desire,” Mrs. Mensa said.

Source: 3news.com