EC to introduce new voting booths December 7

The Electoral Commission is to replace the existing cardboard voting booths with plastic ones for the December 7 presidential and parliamentary polls.

The introduction of the new booths will phase out the cardboard booths which have been used for conduct of elections since Ghana’s return to constitutional democracy in 1992.

The EC a few months ago also out doored a new logo alongside a five-year strategic plan, and as such, the introduction of the all-white plastic booths could only be in line with the rebranding agenda of the Commission, under the new chairperson Mrs. Charlotte Osei.

Mr. Fred Tetteh, an official of the EC’s Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Department gave the hint during a presentation on the Ghanaian electoral process at a pre-election training programme on Saturday for journalists of the Excellence in Broadcasting (EIB) Network, parent company of Starr FM and a host of other media outlets.

He explained the country’s electoral system is much better than that of Nigeria and Kenya because while a registered Ghanaian voter is allowed to vote during an election with/without a voter ID card, the reverse is the case in those countries.

“Our electoral process is such that, so far as a person’s name is on the register, that person can vote during the election even if he/she did not take along the voter ID card to the polling station. All that is required is for you to mention your name to the officer there, who will verify from the register.

“But in the case of Nigeria and Kenya, the I.D card is the only way you can be identified as a voter, so without it, you are automatically disenfranchised,” Mr. Tetteh explained.

The workshop held in Accra, was aimed at equipping the EIB election hub team with relevant knowledge and skills in readiness for the crucial polls in December.

National Coordinator for Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Mr. John Larvie, who was one of the facilitators at the programme, also urged journalists to acquaint themselves with the electoral laws and legislations, in order to ensure accurate reportage on the electoral process.