The Electoral Commission (EC) has begun a 40-day exercise to accept application for proxy voting by eligible voters during general elections on December 7.
The exercise, which starts Wednesday August 17 and ends on September 26, 2016 will enable an eligible voter to delegate someone to vote on his/her behalf when he/she is unable to be present during the Presidential and Parliamentary polls.
The CI75-backed process will ensure that when a voter assigns a proxy, that individual’s data is retrieved, reviewed and verified for the proxy to vote, after which the proxy would go to his own polling station to cast his own individual vote.
Head of Communications at the EC, Eric Dzakpasu, said eligible voters who may want to assign a proxy can visit the Commission headquarters in Accra or the district offices to pick a special proxy form.
The proxy’s identity will be captured on a proxy list and assigned to a polling station where the voter is registered, he explained.
Mr. Dzakpasu also explained the EC has begun the process of transferring votes of electorates who may want to move constituencies after it completes the transfer of persons seeking election in the December Polls.
Meanwhile, the EC has also opened the voters register to enable presidential and parliamentary aspirants who wish to transfer their votes from one polling station to another to do so.
The exercise which started Monday August 15 will end on Friday August 19. The five-day exercise is restricted to only aspiring candidates who will be applying as candidates for the upcoming December 7 elections.
By law, parliamentary aspirants for instance should be registered voters within the constituency where they want to contest.
A statement from the EC explained that the aspirants should visit the District Office of the EC within the constituency they wish to vote and do so.
It also explained that the requirements of transfer of votes are that applications should be resident of the new constituency they want to contest for a period not less than 12 months, provide a proof residency and visit the district office physically to complete the transfer of vote.
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