The Electoral Commission (EC) has signalled that immediately it gets the certified results at the polling station it will declare them.
It said after this process if a trouble maker decided to snatch or destroy a ballot box it would have been in the bosom of the commission already.
These were disclosed by the Regional Director of the commission, Mr George Gyabaah, to participants and political party representatives at a Graphic Communications Group Limited (GCGL) town hall meeting in Sunyani, the Brong Ahafo Regional capital, yesterday.
The theme for the town hall meeting is “Good Governance, a key to Development and Growth in Ghana.” It is part of GCGL efforts to bring political parties and their constituents together in an interactive manner to share views for the common good.
It is also an effort by the GCGL to help in deepening and consolidating multi-party democracy in the country.
Mr Gyabaah said “immediately we get our results, whatever you do with the ballot box remains immaterial and will not matter; you can snatch the box and we will still declare the results, immediately we take our results from the polling stations.
He said the EC, as a referee, was committed to remaining in the middle and following the rules and regulations governing the conduct of the election.
He also said the commission was poised to deliver very credible elections and that everything was on track.
Already, he said, the commission had successfully conducted the continuous registration and was currently compiling the register for review before the elections.
He said the commission was also ready to undertake the transfer of votes and that the timetable would be announced for those who would want to transfer their votes to do so.
Relatedly, the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Maxwell Atinga, assured the nation of the readiness of the police to provide security for the elections.
“If you attempt to snatch a ballot box, the police will not spare you; we will come after the individual (human being) and not a political actor,” he stated.
He said they had formed various task forces which were meeting stakeholders, including youth groups in the region, on the need for orderliness and good behaviour in society.
He also mentioned that the police was currently training its men and women in riot control operations to cater for the elections, especially the 500 hotspots identified in the region.
Mr Atinga said the police was also patrolling the hotspots to resolve emerging differences.
He, therefore, advised the political actors to regard themselves as brothers and sisters, and as such should not do anything untoward against one onother.
“You misbehave, and I am coming for a human being, not party A or B.”, he asserted.
