Confusion broke out at the Ashanti Region TESCON polling area during the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) national delegates congress on October 3. The incident occurred about five and a half hours into the election, which began around 6 p.m. Some delegates struggled to locate their names on the Electoral Commission's album, causing tensions to rise. The agitated delegates chanted, "We are voting," as the situation escalated.
The incident led to police intervention to restore order while Electoral Commission officials worked to resolve the concerns. Officers cordoned off the area and directed the delegates back into orderly queues as efforts continued to address the confusion. According to JoyNews reporter Nana Yaw Gyimah, the situation was eventually brought under control.
The National Coordinator of TESCON, Ghana, dismissed reports that the album containing the names of Ashanti Region delegates was missing. He explained that the problem stemmed from confusion over the designated polling centres. The region has 50 TESCON institutions, whose representatives were expected to vote at three centres labelled A, B and C.
The coordinator clarified that the issue was not with the album but with delegates not knowing where to vote. "They went to A and then they didn’t find their names. They came to B and they didn’t find their names and came to C to see their names," he said. He added that the challenge had been resolved and voting was proceeding.
The TESCON coordinator rejected suggestions that the album had gone missing during the voting process. "No, no, no. That’s never the case. It’s been here since morning," he said. He maintained that all 50 TESCON representatives from the Ashanti Region had their names captured in the EC's sub-album and would be given the opportunity to vote.
According to the coordinator, the voting process had started and none of the TESCON representatives would be disenfranchised. "As I’m talking to you, you can see the voting processes have started. None of them will be disenfranchised. All the 50 people here, their names are captured on the EC sub-album," he said.
Calm has since been restored at the polling area, with voting continuing. Meanwhile, voting had ended at some other centres, where election officials had begun counting ballots. The NPP's national delegates congress is taking place across the country, with various centres reporting different incidents and outcomes.
Key points
- Confusion at Ashanti Region TESCON polling area was caused by delegates' inability to find their names on the Electoral Commission's album due to polling centre mix-ups.
- TESCON coordinator clarified that the album was not missing and all 50 TESCON representatives from the Ashanti Region would be allowed to vote.
- The situation has been resolved, with voting continuing at the affected centre and counting ballots at other centres.
