Electoral Commission (EC) has announced the arrest of an official from its Bono East Regional Directorate for allegedly committing an electoral offence.The official, Joseph Derry, is accused of issuing about 15 ballot papers with the image of the first presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, torn off.

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In a statement signed by Samuel Tettey, the Deputy Chairman for Operations, the EC confirmed the incident and shared photos of the damaged ballot papers.

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"The Electoral Commission has received a report from its Bono East Regional Directorate confirming that a Ballot Issuer at the Temporary Booth Bayiri Polling Station in the Techiman South District tore off the head of the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party while issuing 15 ballot papers to voters.

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The Ghana Police Service has announced the arrest of an electoral commission official identified as Dery Joseph at the Ampesika-Bayere polling station, for allegedly issuing 15 ballot papers without the NPP Presidential candidate, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia. pic.twitter.com/HEetFmlRgA— SIKAOFFICIAL🦍 (@SIKAOFFICIAL1) December 7, 2024 "The Ballot Issuer, Mr. Joseph Derry, has since been arrested by the Police.

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The Commission will cooperate fully with the police to get to the bottom of the matter."<img src="

alt="" class="wp-image-731791" />EC statement confirming arrests of official The EC also issued a stern warning to its officials against breaching electoral processes, emphasising that offenders would face prosecution."The Commission warns all Election

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Officials who violate our processes and electoral laws will be prosecuted. The Commission further warns that it will not shield any election officials who misconduct themselves during the elections."We urge the public to remain calm and report any incident to the police or call the Commission on its Toll-Free Number 0800 324 324."The 2024 general elections are taking place in 276 constituencies across the country, with 18.

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8 million voters expected to cast their ballots.A total of 13 presidential candidates are contesting, including nine from political parties and four independent candidates.Data from CODEO, the largest civil society group monitoring the elections, shows that 801 parliamentary candidates are competing for 276 seats.Out of these, 111 candidates are running as independents in the parliamentary race.

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