Election 2020: Two persons arrested for photographing ballot after voting

The duo was caught photographing their thump-printed ballots after voting and were apprehended by the Kpeshie District Police.

The Graphic Online reports that they were caught after some polling agents suspected them of keeping too long in the voting booth.

After alerting the Police about their suspicion, the phones of the two persons were searched by the Police.

It was uncovered that they had photographed their votes, after which they were arrested by the Police.

The special voting began on December 1, 2020, for security personnel, media practitioners and staff of the Electoral Commission.

More than 109,000 Ghanaians were expected to take part in the early voting in all 16 regions in Ghana.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has warned that it’s an offence for electorates to take photos of their ballots after voting.

The Commission said persons who are caught taking photos of their ballots will be arrested and handed over to the Police.

This was disclosed by the EC’s Director of Electoral Services, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, during an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News.

“If you finish and you tell people who you voted for, that is fine but it is an offence for you to take photos of it and be showing it to people. That breaches the secrecy of the ballot. In the view of the law you can be arrested,” he said.

The EC has also reiterated its resolve to declare the results of the elections after 24 hours.

Addressing journalists as part of the “Let the Citizen Know” encounter, the Commission said it has put in place measures to ensure the results are declared within the estimated time frame.

EC Chair Jean Mensa explained that the current Constitutional Instrument mandated the regional directors to forward results to the EC Headquarters after collating the results of constituencies in their respective regions.

“Unlike the past, when the EC Chair collated results from all the 275 constituencies in the country, this year I will be receiving collated results from the 16 regions making it easier for the results to be declared,” she said, as quoted by GNA.