December holds special significance for Ghana’s constitutional governance, as it is the month in which elections for parliamentary and presidential candidates take place. These elections occur every four years, coinciding with the end of the term for the elected president and the members of Parliament.

Elections are mostly held on the seventh of December, but that process is preceded by a special voting. The special voting is meant for security personnel, media practitioners and election officials.

The special voting for this year took place on Monday throughout the country under the supervision of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC). Special elections for the Eastern and Western Region of Ghana (two of Ghana’s 16 administrative regions) were recently rescheduled for 5th December following the recall of ballot papers for the presidential and parliamentary elections. The EC chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensah, explained that the decision to reschedule the regional voting was prompted by the detection of a broken seal on the electoral materials in the Eastern Region. Although there were no reported issues with the Western Region ballot papers, the printing press responsible for the Eastern Region also handled those for the Western Region and as a precautionary measure the EC recalled and ordered the re-printing of ballot papers for both regions.

The defaced papers were earmarked for destruction but unfortunately they found their way out of the firm which has been working with the commission since 1992. The re-printing of the ballot papers were committed to Buckpress and Innolink with the mandate to increase the security features of ballots papers for the two regions to differentiate them from the ones that have gone out all after the EC secured the consent of the political parties and candidates. From all indications the EC is expected to put adequate measures in place to ensure impartial, free and fair elections in the general elections nationwide on the seventh.