Yes I have voted
So finally Ghanaians around the country are voting to elect our president and Members of Parliament.
I voted at the St. Elizabeth School polling station in the Dome-Kwabenya constituency this morning and here are my quick observations.
I got there around 8 am and finished voting before 10 am.
I noticed that this year, like never before, there is a lot of mistrust between the voters and the officials at the polling station. This was the third time I was voting at this particular polling station and the only time I have noticed slight chaos. The chaos perhaps was due to mistrust or even poor voter eduction this year.
A voter had returned to the station after voting because he found out when he got home that he was supposed to make sure his ballot paper had been endorsed with the official stamp before casting his vote. Since he didn’t check before voting, he returned to the station to check one way or the either to confirm whether his ballot paper had the stamp. This resulted in a lot of shouting for about 5 minutes and after a short education on the process by some observers calm was returned and voting went on calmly until I finished and left.
The queue was split into two with names from A- H going to a specific area and I-Z to another area. Again there was not good enough education on how this split was done. There was miseducation in the queue as to whether the alphabet ranges were for first names or surnames. Well, my first name and surname both fell in one range so I comfortably joined that queue.
I think splitting the queues up really helped a lot this year because it made the process a lot faster.
Anyway check out some photos from EPA’s Photographer CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
Presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo (R), leader of the oppostion party New Patriotic Party (NPP) casts his ballot in the presidential elections at a polling station in Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2016. Ghanaians head to the polls to choose between seven candidates including incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and the main oppostion leader Nana Akufo-Addo. EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
Voters line up to cast their ballots in the presidential elections at a polling station in Mpoase, Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2016. Ghanaians head to the polls to choose between seven candidates including incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and the main oppostion leader Nana Akufo-Addo. EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
An outdoor polling station awaits voters to cast their ballots in the presidential elections, at the Ebenezer School in Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2016. Ghanaians head to the polls to choose between seven candidates including incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and the main oppostion leader Nana Akufo-Addo. EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
Voters line up to cast their ballots in the presidential elections at a polling station in Mpoase, Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2016. Ghanaians head to the polls to choose between seven candidates including incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and the main oppostion leader Nana Akufo-Addo. EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
Electoral officers prepare the ballot box at a polling station for the presidential elections in Accra, Ghana, 07 December 2016. Ghanaians head to the polls to choose between seven candidates including incumbent President John Dramani Mahama and the main oppostion leader Nana Akufo-Addo. EPA/CHRISTIAN THOMPSON
