Some Journalists in the northern region have expressed their disappointment in the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana for their inability to capture their names tov participate in today’s Special Voting Exercise ahead of the December 7, 2020, general elections.
According to the media practitioners, they individually submitted details of their particulars to their various professional bodies such as the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) and the Private Newspapers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) for the EC to capture in the special voters lists.
However, some of them only got to their polling stations in the northern regional capital to realize their names were not included in the register meant for the special voting exercise.
One of the victims, Madam Shawana Yussif, Assistant Editor and Reporter working with Tamale base Fila FM 89.3MHZ expressed her worry why some people’s names have been captured and others not part of the lists. She revealed this included names the station submitted to GIBA, its mother union.
“I am not really happy that my name is not in the special voters lists” she lamented.
When asked how this would impede her on 7 December, she said she would have to join the long queue next Monday to vote before she can think of traveling to whichever constituency her employers will assign her to report from in the region.
“These are some little mistakes we make as a country and it affects our development, it’s highly unfortunate to go and queue for a long time to cast my ballot before I will now get up to go and do my work as a Journalist” she explained.
The Northern Regional Correspondent of TV Africa, Mr. Baba Kamil also lamented his disappointment and described the development as unfortunate in era of the country’s democratic dispensation. He noted the media as four arm of government plays a critical to ensure a credible and transparent election in the country.
Mr. Kamil believes this will have a toll on the work of Journalists who haven’t gotten the opportunity today to vote ahead of the presidential and parliamentary polls.
The TV Africa Correspondent further expressed fears there could be confusion at some of the polling stations when Journalists with their accreditations goes to vote before people who have been in queues for long, refuting suggestions by the EC that Journalists with their accreditations would be given special treatment on the day of elections.
He maintained this would rather be the basis for people to agitate and cause riot if care is not taken to prevent the tendency of violence in the polls.
Meanwhile, some 6, 349 voters including the various security agencies, staff of the electoral commission and some media personnel are expected to exercise their franchise in the northern region ahead of 7 December.
The Custodian can report that voting commenced across the 18 constituencies in the northern region. However, THE CUSTODIAN gathered that voting could not start in some of the constituency polling stations at exactly 7:00am as expected due to delay with the arrival of the electoral materials in those centres.
