The District Level Elections to elect assembly and unit committee members did not come off as scheduled in several electoral areas in the Ashanti Region owing to non-readiness of Electoral Commission Officials and anomalies in the electoral materials.
Most eligible voters who were eager to exercise their civic duty had to return home disappointed.
At the Sokoban-Daban electoral area, ballot papers for the unit committee members were not ready, leading to the suspension of the voting exercise.
“I came all the way from Kwanwoma to vote here, because this is where I registered, but I’ve just been informed that the election will not come on. This is unfortunate because I’ve wasted my fuel,” a visibly angry Yaw Amponsah said.
The news came as a shock to some of the candidates who least expected the cancellation of the exercise.
“This is very bad. Some of us have invested a lot in preparing food for our agents and also encouraging people to come and vote only to be told the voting has been suspended. This development will likely affect the turnout on the next scheduled date,” incumbent assembly member for Sokoban-Daban Kwadwo Boateng indicated.
At Asafo electoral area, there was a protest over the change of names and position on the ballot paper.
This led to a halt in the exercise.
“I was supposed to be number 1 on the ballot, but when the ballot paper arrived, I was number 2, hence the protest. It is quite unfortunate because we have planned for today. We don’t know what is happening. These things should’ve been detected and rectified before voting day”, Ernest Okai, incumbent Asafo electoral area assemblyman, posited
Electorates in several other electoral areas, including Asawase West, Nhyiaeso, Kwadaso, Barekese, and Apraman among others, also did not vote.
A statement issued by the Electoral Commission of Ghana admitted to the anomaly and said the “District Level Elections in some electoral areas in the Ashanti and Eastern regions have been rescheduled to Thursday, 21st December, 2023”.
EC reschedules district level elections in some electoral areas
The Commission apologized for the inconvenience caused and assured residents of the affected area that the elections would be held on the new date.
Some candidates, however, fear that this may affect turnout in the affected areas.