Earlier this morning, the Election Situation Room (ESR) held its second press conference on their observations at the opening of polls today at 7:00 am.
This third press conference highlights key observations of the voting process since the start of the polls.
THE VOTING PROCESS
Despite reported incidents in some polling stations, the voting process proceeded without major complaints and in accordance with the electoral
process.
As of 3:45 pm, out of 655 reports submitted on the voting process, 98.3% indicated that voters on the electoral roll had been verified using the Biometric Verification Device (BVD) or manually.
Additionally, male and female security personnel were observed at the polling stations.
INCIDENTS
During the voting process, some incidents were observed. They include:
Technical Incidents:
● At the Community Centre Sikaroe polling station (Code: D030903) in the Afekoteme electoral area of the Ketu South Constituency, it was reported that there was no exit at the polling unit, compelling voters to complain and resulting in a verbal confrontation.
However, it was resolved amicably when an exit was created.
● At the Siguri Clinic polling station (code R140401A) in the Siguri Electoral Area in the Tempane Constituency of the Upper East Region, four (4) young individuals were seen influencing others to vote for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential Candidate after they had cast their votes.
This caused some tension at the polling station, but it was quickly de-escalated by the security personnel there.
At the same polling station, the NPP party agent also tried to help people vote, which caused an argument with the presiding officer.
The security officer was able to resolve this issue as well.
● At the Martin Luther Junior School polling station (C261505B) in the Nii Komietey electoral area of the Ashaiman Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, EC officials in all eight (8) polling stations opened the poll without filling the statement of polls.
An NDC party representative arrived at the polling station and insisted that the EC officials complete the statement of polls before the election continues.
This halted the voting for a while, but the EC officials complied, and the polls went on smoothly afterwards.
● At the Kawurbi Section electoral area of the Sawla-Tuna-Kalba Constituency in the Savannah Region, with Polling Station Code N020201, 77 parliamentary ballot papers were found to have faces of other parliamentary candidates belonging to another constituency.
Additional information indicates that all 77 ballot papers were withdrawn and voting continued.
● Similarly, in the Sawla Area Council polling station (Code: N020402), it was reported that they also detected the same problem.
In this case, all the ballot papers were withdrawn, and the people were allowed to vote.
Parliamentary candidates were informed, leading to the resolution of the issue.
● The Ghana Police Service reported an arrest of a polling station agent for double voting at Wassa Akropong-Appiahkrom polling station in the Western Region.
The suspect is in police custody and assisting the Police with investigations.
Security Incidents:
● The Ghana Police Service reported that an EC official in the Kintampo South Constituency of the Bono East Region has been arrested for allegedly issuing about 15 ballot papers to voters that omitted the first Presidential candidate at the Ampesika-Bayere polling station.
● The Ghana Police Service confirmed a shooting incident at Nyankpala in the Northern Region, leading to one death and one person injured.
Four suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting incident and are currently assisting the police with investigations.
● The ESR has also noted with concerns reports in the media depicting confrontations between some military personnel and some civilians.
Media Fact Checking
1. Claim: X users @NanaKwame_off, @GrefDuah, and @AmoakoKwam claim NDC Parliamentary candidate for Ayawaso West Wuogon John Dumelo called Maa Lydia a husband killer in a bulk SMS to constituents.
Fact Check:
Verdict: Misleading
The Ghana Fact-Checking Coalition checked with multiple voters in the constituency, and they denied receiving a message with such content from John Dumelo.
We subjected the screenshot of the alleged text to a digital image forensics tool, and it revealed some cloning effects.
The tool’s noise analysis feature showed that the sender’s name (John Dumelo) was superimposed on an existing name.
We also spoke to Mr Dumelo, who denied sending the alleged text message to his constituents and described it as ‘fake news’.
2. Claim: A video of Assin Central MP Kennedy Agyapong claiming the New Patriotic Party (NPP) wants to buy votes from electorates has gone viral.
National Democratic Congress (NDC) Communication Director, Sammy Gyamfi posted it on X in the heat of the campaign as Ghana heads to elections on December 7.
Fact Check:
Verdict: Misleading.
The video is an old video of Kennedy Agyapong speaking in an interview during the NPP flagbearer’s race he contested a year ago, on November 2, 2023.
The Assin Central MP referred to NPP delegates alleged to have been paid huge sums of money to voters during the incumbent party’s ‘flagbearer’ position.
3. Claim: An X user, @Opanaa_1, posted a voter ID with a foreigner’s image. Fact Check Explanation: The picture is fabricated.
The Ghana Fact-checking Coalition conducted a Google Reverse Image Search on the card and found that the man in the photo on the voter ID is Zhou Libo, a popular Chinese comedian charged with possessing a weapon and drug in April 2017.
The Coalition also found that the same image of a voter ID with Zhou’s picture appeared online in 2020.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana issued a presser to debunk this.
Responses
Reference to the above-mentioned incidents, the Decision Room of the ESR engaged the Ghana Police Service who confirmed some of the incidents and have subsequently posted details and the actions taken on their social media platforms.
Recommendations
As we go through collation processes now, the ESR urges:
● Voters and party agents to refrain from any act of violence and provocation that may result in tensions.
● The EC officials and security agents at the polling stations and collation centres are entreated to comply with laid-down procedures.
● The National Election Security Taskforce to increase security presence in all the potential flashpoints, particularly in the affected Constituencies mentioned above, where there have been reported incidents of shootings and violent confrontations.
● The National Election Security Taskforce is encouraged to maintain effective security coordination to avoid excesses.
May God bless Ghana and make our nation great and strong.
Made in Accra, 7th December 2024
The Election Situation Room
