Eds: Updates with postponement of voting in three regions of five regions

Accra, Dec. 29, GNA - Voting in district level elections in the Northern, Upper East and Brong Ahafo regions have been rescheduled for Thursday as the Electoral Commission (EC) works to overcome difficulties in the distribution of ballot papers to the various electoral areas. This means only Ashanti and the Volta regions are seeing any election on Wednesday. Even then, coverage is 80 per cent in Ashanti and 90 per cent in the Volta Region, EC sources told GNA.

Mr David Adenze Kanga, Deputy Commissioner in charge of Finance and Administration, who is monitoring the vote in the Upper East and Northern regions, also told the GNA that they were yet to receive ballot papers for the elections in the two regions.

He said the ballot papers were expected on Wednesday and distribution carried out for the election on Thursday. The Brong Ahafo Region is also yet to receive its ballot papers hence the postponement.

The EC is stressing that the District Assembly and Unit Committee elections are based on electoral areas and therefore are 93unrelated" to= one another.

The polls opened at 0700 hours in the Volta and Ashanti regions, the second set of regions to vote in the rescheduled elections because of the late printing of ballot papers. Voting will end at 1700 hours The elections in the Greater Accra Region, which were also to have bee= n held on Wednesday, were postponed on Tuesday night until Thursday. The Upper West and Central regions voted on Tuesday while the Eastern Region and Western regions will also vote on Thursday.

Electoral statistics for the five regions available to the Ghana News Agency show that in the Upper East Region, a total of 896 candidate, made u= p of 826 males and 70 females are vying for the District Assemblies whilst a total of 2,763 (2,561 males and 202 females) are contesting the Unit Committee Election.

The Volta region data show that a total of 1,833 candidates (1,646 males and 187 females are contesting the District Assembly whilst 4,211 candidates (3,753 males and 458 females) are contesting for the Unit Committee Election.

In the Ashanti Region the record shows that 3,393 contestants (3,153 males and 240 females) are contesting the District Assembly election whilst 9,473 candidates (8,431 male and 1,042 female) are contesting at the Unit Committee level.

The Northern Region recorded 1,749 candidates (1,604 males and 145 females) vying for District Assemblies and 4,009 candidates (3,787 males an= d 222 females) are contesting the Unit Committee Election. The Brong Ahafo Region has 1,979 candidates (1,830 males and 149 females) contesting for District Assemblies and 6,187 candidates (5,578 males and 609 females) are contesting the Unit Committee Elections. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the Electoral Commission, called for the co-operation of all stakeholders, as it took the necessary steps to address the operational hiccups.

Dr Afari-Gyan said the Commission was capable of overcoming the glitches being encountered and urged voters, security agencies and the media, especially radio presenters, to be circumspect in their actions and pronouncements. The EC Chairman, who is in the Ashanti Region to monitor the polls, appealed to media practitioners, especially radio presenters, not to presen= t localized problems observed during the process as a national one. 2