2024 elections:  EC burns defective ballot papers for Eastern region

The Ghana Police Service, in partnership with the Eastern Regional Elections Security Taskforce, has supervised the destruction of defective ballot papers that had been recalled by the Electoral Commission (EC). 

The operation which took place on  Tuesday, December 3, aimed to address issues arising from the mishandling of ballots, prompting a suspension of the Special Voting exercise in the Eastern and Western regions.

The destruction process was conducted under strict supervision, with constituency election directors from all political parties present. These representatives, from parties such as the New Patriotic Party (NPP), National Democratic Congress (NDC), and Convention People's Party (CPP), monitored the proceedings from their respective armories to ensure transparency. 

The defective ballots were taken to a regional dump site on the Akwadum Road, where they were destroyed.

Except for the Afram Plains North and South constituencies, all 31 other constituencies in the Eastern Region presented their defective ballots, which included both presidential and parliamentary papers, for destruction. 

This action was part of a broader effort to address the irregularities that led to the suspension of the Special Voting exercise in the affected regions.

John Appiah Baffour, the Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission, expressed his satisfaction with the process in an interview with the media.

"The exercise has been very successful. We brought all the political parties together, including the NPP, NDC, and CPP. The constituency executives of these parties were here to check the seals on the ballot paper bags, and they confirmed that everything was intact before the ballots were offloaded and burned. So, it has been very successful." he stated.

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This is why the Electoral Commission recalled ballot papers for reprinting in the Western and Eastern Regions