ELECTORAL MATERIALS READY FOR EASTERN REGION ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS (PAGE 12, DEC 15, 2010)

ALMOST all the materials needed for the district level elections in the Eastern Region have been sent to the region.
The Deputy Commissioner (Operations) of the Electoral Commission (EC) who is also in charge of the Eastern Region, Mr Sarfo Kantanka made this known in Koforidua .
He said the EC was now left with the ballot papers which would soon be sent to the region for the elections slated for December 28.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka who was briefing district officers of the EC, National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and the Information Service Department (ISD) in the region on the election said the main problem was the release of money which he was hopeful would be done on time.
The one-day meeting was organised by the EC in collaboration with Kab Governance Consult to discuss problems associated with the district level election in the region in order to see how best the three organisations, EC, NCCE and the ISD, could collaborate for a smooth election.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka, who was not happy about the lack of enthusiasm of the people towards the elections was hopeful that it would be successful, explaining that district level elections in all countries generally had low patronage.
He, however, appealed to the media, the NCCE and the ISD to intensify their educational campaign especially on where to vote since some of the electoral areas had been re-demarcated to increase participation.
“Almost all the materials for the elections have been sent here but people are not enthusiastic about the event so all of us have to intensify our educational campaigns on the issue to rekindle voters’ interest to vote on December 28”, Mr Sarfo Kantanka said.
With regard to the mounting of platforms, he said that would be done by the EC or the candidates themselves.
Mr Sarfo Kantanka further said non-political organisations would also be allowed to mount platforms or make public address systems available to all the candidates in a specific area to enable them to market themselves.
Welcoming the participants, the Eastern Regional Director of the EC, Mr Paul Boateng, said the meeting, the first of its kind, would make it possible for the EC to collaborate effectively with the ISD and the NCCE for a successful election on December 28.