Do you know how to vote on election day?. Here is a step by step guide on what to do at the polling station

1. On election day, go to the Polling Station with your Voter ID card and join the queue if any. Please don’t jump the queue.
2. A polling assistant will check your particulars in the name reference list
3. A verification officer will verify your identity as a registered voter with the verification machine.
4. You will be issued with a Presidential Ballot paper. Please check to see if it has no marks on it. Also, ensure it has the validating stamp.
5. Make your way to the Voting Booth and thumbprint (correctly) your choice of candidate.
6. Cast your vote in the Presidential Ballot Box. Please make sure it is the right box.
7. Proceed to the next Polling Assistant for a Parliamentary Ballot Paper
8. Proceed to the Parliamentary Voting Booth and thumbprint (correctly) your choice of MP.
9. Cast your ballot in the Parliamentary Ballot Box. Please make sure it is in the correct box.
10. Please leave the Polling Station after voting. You can return at 5 pm for the count.

Anyone who is registered can apply for a proxy vote. You are required to provide a reason for absence when you apply for a proxy vote.
You can apply for a proxy vote on the following criteria:

Illness or disability
You have an illness or physical condition that prevents you to go to the polling station on election day.

Employment or military service.
Your work prevents you to go to the polling station on election day.

Education.
Your attendance in an educational course prevents you from going to the polling station on election day.

Absence due to Personal Reasons.
You are unable to go to your local polling station on election day. For example, if you are away on holiday.

Overseas
You are a Ghanaian citizen living overseas.

It’s always best to cast your vote in person. When that is not possible, proxy voting provides a process for a registered voter to appoint another person (proxy) to vote for his or her behalf.

For this purpose, the applicant must note:

• You must apply to the returning officer of your constituency or to the Commission (by completing a form) at least 42 days before the day of the election.
  
  
• You can appoint only one proxy for a particular election.
  
  
• The same person cannot be appointed as a proxy by two voters
  
  
• The person you appoint as a proxy must be qualified to be a registered voter.
  
  
• Once you have appointed a proxy, you cannot cast your own vote on election day.
  
  
• You may cancel voting by proxy if you are available before the voting day by applying to the Commission, in which case the proxy will be voided and cannot vote on your behalf.

Special voting is a facility provided by law to allow registered voters who will not be able to present themselves at their polling stations due to the role they play in the elections, to vote on a date before the rest of the electorate vote on the date set for the election.

Special Voting is only allowed for general elections.

QUALIFICATION FOR SPECIAL VOTING

• A person must be a registered voter in the constituency to be able to apply to be part of special voting in the constituency; or
• The person should have transferred his/her vote to the constituency; and
• Must be a security official, accredited media personnel or staff of the EMB;

APPLICATION FOR SPECIAL VOTING:

REGULATION 23, CI 94

A voter may apply to the returning officer of the constituency in which the voter is registered to be entered as a special voter, if as a result of election duties the voter will not be able to be present at the polling station where the voter is registered on election day.

An application under sub regulation (1) shall be set out in Form Four Schedule and shall be:

Made not later than forty – two days to or before the  polling day in the constituency of the applicant except in the case of an applicant who is a returning officer, and

Accompanied by a certificate from the applicant’s employer where the applicant is not a returning officer stating that;

(i) the applicant is registered at a polling station in the constituency of the

Returning officer to whom the applicant is made; and

(ii) the applicant’s duties will prevent the applicant from being present on

polling day at the polling station where the applicant registered.

A returning officer who receives an application under sub regulation(2) shall where the applicant is a person whose duties are related to the elections, ascertain from the applicant;

(a)Where the applicant will be working on election day;

(b)If the applicant will be working in the same constituency where the

applicant is registered but at polling stations other where the applicant is

registered or in a different constituency.

The returning officer shall

Issue the applicant, a certificate that entitles the applicant to vote on a day set for special voters;

enter the registration details of the applicant on the special voters list;

enter the registration details of the applicant on the absent voters list of the polling station where the applicant is registered; and

Inform the applicant, political parties, and other persons of the date and time set aside for special voting.

Where an applicant is made to a returning officer under sub regulation(1) and the applicant is a person other than an election officer, the returning officer shall

enter the name and other registration details of the applicant on the special voters list for the constituency;

enter the name and other registration details of the applicant on the absent voters list of the polling station in which the applicant is registered; and

inform the applicant, political parties and other persons of the date and time set for special voting.

The returning officer shall give a copy of the special voters list to all political parties upon request.

A person whose name is entered on the special voters list shall vote at a polling station specified by the commission and on a day not more than seven days before the polling day appointed by the returning officer and advertised in the manner that Commission may direct.

A person whose name is transferred on the special voters’ list shall not vote on election day.

A person shall not vote at a polling station as a special voter unless that person’s name is the special voters list for that polling station.

Subject to sub regulation (11) voting at a polling station for special voters shall be conducted in the same manner as voting on polling day.

The returning officer shall at the end of the special voting

Ensure that the ballot boxes are kept in a safe custody after the polls has closed;

Ensure that the ballot boxes are sealed with the seal of the Commission and any candidate who wish to add their seal; and

Arrange for the ballot boxes to be opened at the time of the counting of the votes cast on the polling day and the ballot papers shall be counted in the same manner as those counted in the ballot boxes used on the polling day.

SPECIAL VOTING AND DLE

Special voting is not ALLOWED in District Level Elections for the following reasons;

• the large numbers of the elections involved makes it impracticable to do so (6156 UCEs and 6156 DAEs)
• Logistic constraints. This may take over 12,000 ballot boxes out of the stock for special voting.
• Cost-benefit analysis shows that there will be no value for money. Allowances for election officials who will be deployed at the special voting centres could be as high as 50% of the total allowances payable for the main elections
• Transportation component of the cost of running the election will also increase
• Number of election officials and security personnel in an electoral area may be so small that it does not make sense to have special voting for them
• Again, more than 12,000 booklets of ballot papers may have to be used before the main election leaving a huge number of unused ballot papers at the special voting.

A cost-benefit analysis shows that it is not worthwhile to have special voting at DLEs.

If you have been a resident for at least two months in a constituency other than the one in which you originally registered, you may apply to the district electoral officer of your new constituency or to the Commission (by filling a form designed for the purpose) for your name to be transferred from your original polling station to a polling station in your new area of residence so that you can vote there on election day.
Please take note of the following:

• Your application must be received 42 days before the day set for the election in order for the necessary arrangements to be completed.
  
  
• You must have lived at your new place for at least two months. Once your name has been transferred, you can only vote at your newly assigned station; NOT at your original station.
  
  
• Your name will continue to be on the register of your original station until the register is replaced. Before then, you have to apply to transfer your vote at every election.