The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised concerns over the closure of certain polling stations ahead of the 2024 general elections, following the release of the final voters register by the Electoral Commission (EC) on Tuesday, November 12, 2024.
According to the EC, the total number of eligible voters for the upcoming election stands at 18,774,159, which includes 18,640,811 biometrically registered voters, 131,478 special voters, and 1,870 voters whose biometric data was corrupted and will require manual verification on election day.
The EC explained that some polling stations were closed due to logistical challenges, while others did not meet the minimum required voter threshold or were closed at the request of local communities. Voters affected by these closures have been reassigned to nearby polling stations to ensure they can still participate in the election.
However, Dr. Rashid Tanko-Computer, Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the NDC expressed concerns during an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News on Tuesday.
He pointed out discrepancies in the national summary of the voter register, which revealed information that had not been disclosed to the public earlier.
He called on the EC to provide further clarification and transparency on the matter, emphasizing the NDC’s demand for a full explanation regarding the closure of polling stations and how it might impact voter turnout in certain areas.
“It has to do with the collapse of certain polling stations that we are not aware of, and they have migrated them to certain polling stations we are not aware of at all.”
He emphasised the need for the EC to provide clear data on these polling stations, as the NDC had not been informed about the collapse and migration of these stations.
“So, we needed the EC to come clean and give us data of those polling stations because all along we’ve been working they never indicated to us they are collapsing polling stations. They have never indicated that. They only made us to understand that they were only going to create additional voting centres,” he added.
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