Investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has warned that chaos could erupt on election day at polling centers if officials of the Electoral Commission turn away qualified voters who turn up to vote without facemasks.
According to Manasseh Azure Awuni, qualified voters who turn up at polling centers without facemasks are likely to resist any attempt to turn them away which may lead to their disenfranchisement.
He said many people will be disenfranchised if the directive is to be strictly enforced, a situation that could mar the polls with confusion.
“There will be chaos and disenfranchising of a great number of eligible voters if the EC goes ahead with the threat to deny people the right to vote because they wear no masks.
There will be chaos when people who were packed together in campaign rallies without masks are turned away from the paced out and socially distanced queues on election day,” he said.
The Electoral Commission has indicated that it will strictly enforce the covid-19 safety measures including the wearing of facemasks.
This was after some voters were turned away for not wearing facemasks during the Special Voting exercise.
Reacting to the development, Mr. Awuni argued that the EC did not inform the public of its directives to electoral officials to deny voters without masks the chance to vote in time as result many people are not aware and will go to the polling centers without masks. He again argued that some electorates particularly the rural folks are unable to afford or access facemasks and thus, such people are likely to disenfranchised.
He is, therefore, suggesting that the EC makes available facemasks to voters who show up at the centers without masks so as to avoid confusion at the centers and the disenfranchisement of many Ghanaians, a suggestion some have already made to the electoral management body.
“This directive has come very late and many people may not hear about it before election day. Those of us who are already adhering to the mask wearing may find it easy to meet the requirement but these are real challenges that should be anticipated.
There are some remote villages in Ghana that have not seen face masks since this pandemic broke. They won’t have them on Election Day. The EC can provide free face masks at polling stations if they want to make this compulsory,” he said.
However, Director of Electoral Service at the EC, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe said providing facemasks for voters without masks at the polling centers will create a negative impression that the polling centers are breeding grounds for Covid-19.
