There will be proxy voting this year – EC announces

Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, has announced that room will be opened for persons to deputize for electorates who for a reason cannot vote in the impending elections. The Electoral Commission had earlier rescinded the proxy voting exercise which gives right to electorates to delegate their franchise to their trustees during general elections. But the EC Boss, Dr. Afari Gyan, says upon further deliberation, people will be allowed to vote on behalf of eligible voters come December 7. According to him, the EC has formulated a plan to continue the proxy voting this electioneering year. Addressing some senior journalists at the EC Editor’s Forum, he indicated that eligible voters who want to exercise this authority should notify the Commission about their intent; otherwise their application will be disapproved. In a related development, the Electoral Commission says though media personnel have been excluded from the early voting exercise this year, the Commission will put in place a system to ensure journalists vote early on December 7. Acting Public Affairs Director of the Electoral Commission, Christian Owusu Parry, says media practitioners will be granted access to the election sites early to vote but with accreditation from the commission. He therefore advised journalists to apply for accreditation through the Ghana Journalists Association for the commission to provide them with ID cards that will certify them to vote early come December. “The EC cannot make any arrangement that is contrary to the law. The media like the rest of the electorates will vote on the 7th of December and it means the media if they want to observe and report have to go to the polling station early, to be able to go through the process and go back and carry out their assignment as media men.’’ “What we can do, will be for us [Electoral Commission] to talk to our presiding officers to give some kind of preferential treatment to the media personnel who will come to their polling station. And those media personnel may have to show that they have been accredited to go and observe the poll. They can vote without joining the queue and then they can go and carry out their work as media personnel.’’, he said. He however warned about late applications saying “all media men must route their application through the GJA [Ghana Journalist Association] and ask them to put their names on their list of people they are asking accreditation for. We have to process it and be able to print ID cards for them.’’ Source: ADU GYAMFI AMEYAW