Special voting for selected professionals slated for December 2

The Electoral Commission (EC) will hold special voting on December 2, 2024, for selected professionals, including security agencies and accredited media practitioners, who will be performing duties during election day on December 7, 2024.

According to the EC, nominations for candidates will be accepted from September 9 to 13, marking a significant milestone in the political calendar.

Following this, the balloting for positions on the presidential ballot paper is scheduled for September 23, 2024, with parliamentary balloting taking place the following day, on September 24, 2024.

The EC aims to expedite the announcement of the 2024 presidential poll results within three days of the voting process, provided all goes as planned.

Also, the voter registration exercise is scheduled for May 7 to May 27, 2024, followed by a nationwide effort to replace missing voter ID cards starting May 30, 2024.

Ahead of the registration exercise too, a comprehensive 56-day public education campaign will run from April 1 to May 26, 2024, to ensure widespread awareness and participation.

What is a special vote?

“Special Voting” is an opportunity given to certain registered voters to cast their ballots on a date earlier than the advertised national voting day because such persons will be considered too occupied on the day ensuring the smooth running of the elections.

Only security officials, accredited media personnel and staff of the Electoral Management Body (EMB) can enjoy “Special Voting” in Ghana.

In every election year, it is required of such qualified individuals to submit an application to the EC showing proof that they will be engaged in election duties, so they cannot exercise their franchise on the set date to cast their ballots.

Special voters can only vote in the constituency in which they will be working on the main Election Day.

Polling stations are provided by the EC and the elections are conducted in the same manner as the main elections.

Every constituency can only conduct “Special Voting” at one polling station – this allows for centralization of voters and protection of the ballots.

If a person who applied and was certified for “Special Voting” is unable to vote on the date it is conducted, he or she will forfeit that right to exercise their franchise in that year’s elections.

However, the ballots cast are not immediately counted after the “Special Voting” process. The ballots are collated, kept under security in a police station and are only counted as part of the results for the general elections.

Also, “Special Voting” only happens during general election years. District Level Elections do not merit “Special Voting” because, as the EC explains, sighting financial constraints and smaller numbers of election officials and security personnel among others.

This year’s “Special Voting” will be the eighth time in the fourth republic the EC has conducted the exercise. The “Special Voting” exercise first started in 1996.

Meanwhile, the EC plans to present the provisional voters' register to political parties between July 9 and 18, 2024, and conduct an exhibition of the register from July 15 to 24, 2024.

The final voters' register is slated to be submitted to political parties between August 30 and September 5, 2024.

Additionally, the EC intends to hold meetings with stakeholders beyond political parties and engage the public through its "Let the Citizen Know" series, as outlined in the schedule.

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