Special voting for the Western and Eastern Regions is being held today, December 5, following a postponement from the original date of December 2.

The Electoral Commission (EC) rescheduled the exercise after a leakage of ballot papers was detected in the two regions, prompting swift action to safeguard the credibility of the election process.

The EC ordered a recall and reprinting of the ballot papers for the affected regions. The Commission's Chairperson, Jean Mensa, announced this decision during an emergency news conference on Sunday, 1st December.

• Read also: Special voting for Western and Eastern postponed to Thursday over ballot leakage incident

The recall was deemed necessary to ensure the voting process's integrity before the 2024 General Election.

For this year’s general election, there are 328 special voting centres nationwide, accommodating 131,478 voters on the special voting list.

These include members of the security services, media personnel, and election officials, who vote ahead of the general populace to allow them to perform their duties on election day.

Speaking on Wednesday, 4th December, a Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr Bossman Asare, confirmed the Commission's readiness for today’s special voting exercise in the Western and Eastern Regions.

He assured the public that all necessary preparations had been completed to ensure a smooth and transparent process in the two regions.

• Read also: We’re ready for delayed special voting in Western and Eastern Region on Thursday – EC

“The Electoral Commission is very much ready for the special voting tomorrow [Thursday]. All the materials that are required for the elections have been dispatched to the two regions, that is the Western Region and the Eastern Region.

"So we do expect that all those who are special voters in these two regions, regardless of where they are located now, will be able to make it to their special voting centres,” he said.

He further explained that there would be 33 voting centres in the Eastern Region and 17 in the Western Region, urging all registered special voters in these areas to participate in the process.

Dr Asare also emphasised that those who fail to vote on Thursday will not have the opportunity to do so on Saturday, 7 December.