The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa has disclosed that, measures are being put in place to create more polling stations ahead of the 2024 election to reduce the number of voters per polling station to 500.
According to her, this move by the EC will help reduce overcrowding at various polling stations, however, she hinted that, the closing time of election might change from 5:00pm to 3:00pm during the 2024 general election.
“In 2020, 70 percent of our polling centres had a voter threshold of 500 and below. This time we intend to ensure that all our polling station centers have a threshold of 500 voters and below. In the same vein, we will increase the number of our polling stations nationwide.
We believe that this will go a long way to reduce the long queues that characterize our elections and allow for a smooth, seamless, hassle-free voting process.
In 2020, it took voters not more than five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of this policy. Based on our 2020 experience and also feedback from several observer groups, we propose to close the polls at 3:00 pm.”
Speaking at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) forum in Accra, the chairperson for the commission, stressed that, the changes is a stepping stone to ensure transparency and fair collation of votes by electoral officers in broad daylight.
“If you compare the turnout in 2016 to 2020, in spite of the hassle-free process in 2016 and the lack of long queues and lines and so on, we had a voter turnout of 79 percent plus, compared to 67 percent in 2020″, she added.
