General News of Monday, 7 December 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Voter arrested for taking picture of ballot paper

File photo of a man in handcuff File photo of a man in handcuff

The police have arrested a young man in the Shama DA Forecourt B polling station for taking pictures of his ballot papers.

His arrest comes after the Electoral Commission had warned voters against the act as one violates the principles governing the electoral process if an individual takes pictures of their ballot paper after voting.

He said “If you finish and you tell people who you voted for, that is fine but it is an offence for you to take photos of it and be showing it to people. That breaches the secrecy of the ballot. In view of the law, you can be arrested.”

It is based on the young man who is currently at the Shama Police station in the Western Region undergoing questioning was arrested.

Also, Legal Practitioner, Martin Kpebu has stated that a perpetrator can be fined and jailed up to 2 years for sharing pictures of ballot papers after casting their votes.

According to him, a voter is not supposed to communicate who he has voted for to any person after he enters the boot.

This he says is according to Representation of the People Amendment Act (ROPAA) section 31.

Voting is currently going on smoothly across the country even though there has been some report on the delayed start of the voting process.

The voting process is expected to end at 5 pm.