Friday, December 26, 2008

Hospital in-patients unlikely to vote

The Electoral Commission (EC) has no special provisions for patients on admission at the hospitals to exercise their franchise.
 "That has been the case since 1992," Ms Laurantia Kpatakpa, Volta Regional Director of the EC, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Ho on Friday.
 She said proxy voting, which required going through some processes, was the alternative left for such people to exercise their franchise but because nobody could tell when he or she would fall sick and be on admission, that alternative would not be feasible given the time factor.
 Ms Kpatakpa said the EC did not have the resources to get to all hospitals in order to get those on admission to vote.
 She said what the EC had been doing for such in-patients was to get them registered at the hospitals during voter registration exercises.
  Ms Kpatakpa said it was only hospital staff such as doctors and nurses and other personnel, who would be on duty on voting day, who could apply for special voting if they wished.
GNA

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