Polling Stations are restricted areas - EC Official

The Cape Coast Metropolitan Director of the Electoral Commission(EC), Mr Anthony Nyame, has cautioned Ghanaians that Polling Stations are restricted areas, which must be respected by all.

He explained that anyone who did not have any business there should stay away from the premise.

By the end of the second phase, 43,875 people had been registered in the Metropolis with 17 of them being challenged.

Mr Nyame was addressing members of the Cape Coast Metro Inter-Party Dialogue Committee in Cape Coast at the weekend.

He stated that all party agents and other officials should have an accreditation tag before they would be allowed access to such stations.

The Inter Party Dialogue Committee has been instituted in all the districts to promote peace and resolve conflicts before, during and after the 2012 general election.

They are also to work in concert with the enforcement bodies to ensure among others, that all political parties abide by the code of conduct and apply the appropriate sanctions against those who would abuse the code.

Mr Nyame has therefore urged all political parties to release the names of their agents for the December Polls to the EC for them to be trained and issued with accreditation cards.

He told the political parties that, their agents represented their interests and so they should be able to read and write for them to understand whatever they signed and also to report the right information to them.

He pointed out that they should have gone through the procedure for the registration exercise in the Metropolis but the Parties failed to comply and he had to allow the agents access on “humane grounds” but urged them to do the “right thing” come December.

All other officials and observers should also have accreditation during the exercise, he stressed, saying that party agents were to observe and report proceedings of the exercise to their Parties.

They are, therefore, to be trained for them to understand the electoral process to forestall any misinformation and unnecessary actions during such exercises.

Mr Alex Sackey, the Metro Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), urged the participants to share what they were told at the meeting with their parties for them to also educate the entire members to ensure peace at all times.**