The Electoral Commission (EC) has acknowledged a delay in the declaration of election results at collation centres, attributing the holdup to the presence of party supporters at these locations.

Speaking at a press briefing on 8 December, Samuel Tetteh, the EC’s Deputy Commissioner for Operations, revealed that the usual pace of result declarations had been slowed down by the large crowds of supporters from various political parties who have gathered at regional collation centres.

Earlier, the EC had issued a directive limiting access to collation centres to only two agents per party, along with candidates and other accredited individuals. However, despite this, supporters have continued to throng the centres.

Mr Tettey urged political party leaders to immediately remove their supporters from the collation centres, explaining that party agents already have copies of the pink sheets and there is no need for the additional presence of supporters.

“We call on political parties to withdraw their supporters with immediate effect and urge security agencies to act,” Mr Tettey stated. “This infiltration of supporters is delaying the collation process.”

He also appealed to party supporters to leave the collation centres to allow returning officers to declare the results without further delay.

Counting and sorting of ballots have been completed at most polling stations across the country.

Source:TheDotNews