General News of Friday, 2 December 2016

Source: 3news.com

‘Disenfranchised’ security officers to vote Sunday – EC declares

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The Electoral Commission has announced a second round of Special Voting on Sunday to afford security personnel and others who could cast their vote in Thursday’s voting to exercise their franchise.

This was agreed between the political parties and the Electoral Commission Thursday night at an emergency Inter Party Advisory Committee [IPAC] meeting in Accra, TV3’s Jonathan Adams reports.

It followed complaints of widespread exclusion of names hundreds of security officers from the voters’ register for the special voting across the country. It followed complaints of widespread exclusion of names hundreds of security officers from the voting list for the special voting.

“The parties have agreed have agreed that those who could not vote today should be given the opportunity to vote on Sunday,” Jonathan reported.

Our correspondent reported that the parties have also agreed for the two voters’ registers which were at the centre of confusion at most polling centres across the country, to be merged for Sunday’s exercise.

Sunday’s second round of voting becomes the first time in the country’s electoral history under the fourth republic that special voting will be held for two days.

The decision for a second round would allay the fears of disenfranchisement among the hundreds of security personnel whose names were excluded from the list of voters for Thursday’s Special Voting exercise, some of who threatened to boycott their electoral duties on election day.