Ghana’s electoral body has shut down its Tamale metropolitan office Thursday after the ongoing voters transfer exercise was marred by violence.

Communications Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Eric Dzakpasu said the measure was to quell the violence purportedly sparked by supporters of both the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

Speaking to Evans Mensah, host of Joy FM’s Top Story programme Thursday, he said: “when calm is restored the office would be opened.”

The EC’s Voters Transfer Exercise was brought to an end in Tamale after NDC and NPP supporters clashed over the refusal of some officials of the Commission to transfer votes for some of the applicants.

Students of the University of Development Studies (UDS) who had gathered to have their votes transferred bolted for their lives when an unidentified man allegedly fired gun shots.

Similar incident happened in the Eastern Regional town of Suhum when an unknown assailant attacked EC officials threatening  them to transfer votes of some people living outside the constituency.

Suhum District Director, Mensah Worlanyo told Joy News “one of my men and threatened that they will kill him. So they [EC officials] threatened that they won’t go work.”

Spokesperson of the Northern Regional Police Command, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh says no one has been arrested yet and no one has been reported injured.

He says it is alarming the way the various activities of the Commission are marred by violence in the country.

He cited pockets of violence in areas such as Daboya, Damango, and Chereponi as harbinger of what Ghanaians should expect in the upcoming election.

Although the EC believes the incident should court the concern of all well-meaning Ghanaians, it does not see the December polls ending in violence.

Mr Dzakpasu wants a joint security task force made up of personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghana Police Service to provide security at the various registration centers as the exercise ends Friday.

Responding to whether the Commission would consider extending the exercise, he explained unlike other registration processes that are flexible, the period for Voters Transfer Exercise is cast in law.

The law has determined the period for the Voters Transfer Exercise and this cannot be changed, he said.