Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has begun the destruction of ballot papers with serial number errors for the Ahafo and Volta Regions. These ballots, which contain mistakes in the serial numbering for both presidential and parliamentary elections, are being incinerated.
A footage shared on November 21, 2024, shows EC officials, party representatives, and security personnel from the National Intelligence Bureau, National Security, and the Ghana Police Service overseeing the destruction.
The operation is taking place at the Adepa Waste Management Center in Nsawam Adoagyiri.
This follows a previous destruction of faulty ballots on Sunday, November 16, 2024, due to similar serialisation issues. An EC representative clarified that while the destruction process on Thursday is focused on burning erroneous ballots, waste papers, and the destruction of plates, this exercise is distinct from the earlier action taken at the South Industrial area.
“We burnt the waste papers, overs, and the destroyed plates at the premises of the company in the industrial area. That is totally different from this, and that is a routine thing that we do when we finish the printing process.
“The plate used for the ballot printing has to be destroyed as the final item under destruction. This particular one has a peculiar case because the EC rejected these ballots that were printed by the printing house based on the defects indicated in the press release,” he said.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana has confirmed that it is taking action to address issues found in the printing of presidential and parliamentary ballot papers for the Volta and Ahafo Regions.
In a statement made during an urgent Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Friday, November 15, 2024, Samuel Tettey, the Deputy Commissioner for Operations, outlined that the Commission has initiated corrective steps, including the reprinting of the affected ballot papers.
“The Commission has seriously taken action to cure the defect and has deployed teams to the printing house to correct the anomaly. Gaps still exist, and the commission has taken the decision to recall the ballot papers for the Ahafo and Volta Regions.
The commission has decided that the ballots for the two regions will now be printed by Bulk and Acts Commercials, respectively,” he stated.