By Michael Foli Jackidy
Dzodze (V/R), Aug 08, GNA – The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Constituency Executive Committee elections in Ketu North, scheduled for Saturday, August 8, at Dzodze, were delayed by about two hours following the detection of anomalies in the ballot papers.
The elections, which were originally scheduled to begin at 0800 hours, eventually commenced at 1000 hours after the anomalies were resolved with a replacement of the faulty ballot papers.
Mr Maxwell Koffie Lugudor, the Coordinator of the elections, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the delay was necessary to ensure a free, fair and transparent election.
He said the Electoral Commission (EC), together with the aspirants and election coordinators, met on Friday, August 7, to cross-check the ballot papers and detected some anomalies, including the repetition of some serial numbers.
Mr Lugudor said the affected ballot papers were withdrawn and new ones printed, to prevent any contestant or delegate from feeling cheated or unfairly treated after the elections.
“I would like to use this opportunity to apologise for the delay. The delay was caused by the need to correct some anomalies detected in the ballot papers,” he said.
He expressed appreciation to the delegates and other stakeholders for their patience, saying the organisers had agreed to wait for the replacement ballot papers to be printed before commencing the exercise.
“We hope that at the end of the day, everything will be free and fair and peaceful,” he said.
Mr Dominic Agbanu, the Ketu North Electoral Commission Chair, also assured the delegates of a peaceful and transparent election despite the initial delay.
A total of 1,203 delegates are expected to cast their ballots to elect 10 constituency executives from among 31 aspirants.
The Ketu North Constituency election is among several NPP constituency executive elections in the Volta Region that were suspended after the nationwide exercise held on July 11, 2026, following various issues identified in the affected constituencies.
The elections are being held to complete the constituency executive selection process in the affected areas.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo