A Deputy Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr Bossman Asare, has confirmed the Commission's readiness for Thursday's special voting exercise in the Western and Eastern Regions.

The EC had been compelled to order a recall and reprinting of ballot papers for these regions after a mishap was detected in their initial batch of ballot papers.

As a result, the Commission postponed the special voting for the two regions to December 5.

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

In an interview on Joy FM's Midday News on Wednesday, 4 December, Dr Bossman Asare assured the public of the Commission’s preparedness for the delayed special voting in the two regions.

He revealed that all the necessary materials for the election had already been dispatched to the respective regions.

“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 emphasized that those who fail to vote on Thursday will not have the opportunity to do so on Saturday, 7 December.

The Deputy Chairperson also addressed the measures taken to ensure a free, transparent, and fair election.

“We had a meeting with the parties, and all of us are committed to the integrity of the process. The main conclusion from that meeting was about ensuring that the election will be very fair, free, transparent, and embedded in integrity. And that is what we did by taking the decision to reprint the ballot papers for the Eastern and Western Regions,” he explained.

Dr Asare also condemned some electoral malpractices observed during the special voting on Monday, stating that the Commission would investigate the issue.

Read also: Sharing food in voting queues is corruption and an integrity breach – CHRAJ

“It is against the law to be influencing voters, such as giving food to people, etc. This is something the Commission will issue a statement on, but we must also gather the full evidence in terms of what actually transpired,” he concluded.