The Electoral Commission (EC) has hinted at plans to create more polling stations in an effort to improve access to voting for all citizens ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Commission acknowledged the long queues and overcrowding at polling stations during previous elections, and stated that they are committed to addressing these issues in the upcoming elections.
The EC, according to its intentions, wants to reduce the number of voters per polling station to 500.
Speaking at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) forum in Accra, the chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, explained that the creation of more polling stations will reduce congestion at voting centers.
“In 2020, 70 percent of our polling centres had a voter threshold of 500 and below. This time we intend to ensure that all our polling station centers have a threshold of 500 voters and below. In the same vein, we will increase the number of our polling stations nationwide.
“We believe that this will go a long way to reduce the long queues that characterize our elections and allow for a smooth, seamless, hassle-free voting process. In 2020, it took voters not more than five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of this policy. Based on our 2020 experience and also feedback from several observer groups, we propose to close the polls at 3:00 pm.”
“If you compare the turnout in 2016 to 2020, in spite of the hassle-free process in 2016 and the lack of long queues and lines and so on, we had a voter turnout of 79 percent plus, compared to 67 percent in 2020,” Mrs. Mensa added.
She further emphasized that this adjustment aims to facilitate the transparent and orderly collation of votes by electoral officers in broad daylight.
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