The Electoral Commission (EC) has confirmed that the special voting exercise, held nationwide, was conducted smoothly and peacefully, setting a positive precedent for the upcoming general elections.

Deputy Director of Research at the EC, Fred Tetteh, praised the exercise in an interview on Citi FM on Monday, December 2, 2024.

He noted that the event was carried out without any major incidents, highlighting the well-organised process.

Tetteh further emphasised the efficient and transparent nature of the special voting, with voters participating in an orderly manner at various polling centres.

He expressed satisfaction with the high level of compliance and cooperation from all involved parties.

“So far so good, everything went seamless and smooth and per our monitoring of the situation on the ground some of us had the opportunity to go and cast our votes and then monitoring the event in some of the polling centres we saw that there was orderliness, peaceful and quite smooth,” Mr Tetteh stated.

He added that the turnout was encouraging, reflecting voter enthusiasm ahead of the main elections.

The special voting exercise, conducted for security personnel, election officials, and media practitioners, forms a crucial part of Ghana’s electoral process, enabling these groups to fulfil their duties on election day.

However the overall success, the exercise was not without isolated incidents. A temporary EC officer was arrested in Bimbilla for allegedly taking a photograph of his ballot paper, raising questions about adherence to electoral regulations.

The EC assured the public that measures are in place to address any such infractions promptly.

The special voting process is considered a litmus test for the Electoral Commission’s readiness to deliver free, fair, and credible elections on 7 December.