The Electoral Commission (EC) has rescheduled the special voting exercise for the Western and Eastern regions to Thursday, December 5, 2024.
This is due to the recall of ballot papers in the aforementioned regions following a reported incident of defaced ballot papers.
The Electoral Commission has therefore ordered the reprinting of ballot papers for the affected regions.
EC Chairperson, Mrs. Jean Mensa, announced this at an emergency news conference on Sunday, December 1.
According to the EC, this was necessary after information from national security revealed that a single defaced paper was taken out of Checkpoint Printing Limited Printing House.
The defaced paper was earmarked for destruction but unfortunately found its way out of the firm, which has been working with the Commission since 1992.
As a result, the EC announced the suspension of the special voting exercise for the two regions whose ballot papers were printed by Checkpoint Printing Limited Printing House.
The reprinting will be done by Dark Press and Innolink.
It says the security features of ballots for the two regions will be enhanced to differentiate them from the ones that have gone out.
The EC said the total recall is to ensure the integrity of the election.
It says all parties and contestants in the election have been informed of the development and have agreed to the recall and reprinting.
The EC has slated December 2 for the special voting nationwide.
For the 2024 general election, there are 328 special voting centres across the country and 131,478 voters on the special voting list.