The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana is in the process of creating additional polling stations ahead of the 2024 elections, aiming to reduce the number of voters per station to 500.

This strategic move is intended to alleviate congestion and streamline the voting process during the upcoming general elections.

IPAC

Jean Mensa, the chairperson of the EC, disclosed this information during an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) forum held in Accra.

Mrs Mensa emphasized the necessity of reducing long queues at voting centres, asserting that the creation of more polling stations will contribute to a smoother and hassle-free voting experience.

“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,” stated Jean Mensa.

The EC chairperson highlighted the positive impact of this approach, noting that in the 2020 elections, voters took no more than five minutes to cast their votes due to a similar policy.

Drawing from the lessons learned, the EC proposes to shift the closing time of voting from 5:00 pm to 3:00 pm during the 2024 elections.

Jean Mensa emphasized that the early closing time aims to enhance transparency and orderliness during the collation of votes by electoral officers in broad daylight.

The proposal is grounded in the observations from the 2020 elections, where approximately 70 percent of voting centres experienced minimal activity by 1:00 pm.

“If you compare the turnout in 2016 to 2020, despite 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,” added Mrs Mensa.