According to eyewitnesses, the delegates suspected foul play when they detected that ballot papers for the deputy communication position have been mixed up with that of the chairmanship slot.
Some of the delegates, eyewitnesses, said they tried to prevent officials of the Electoral Commission from continuing with the election process, but faced stiff opposition from others. The development led to a free-for-all in the night.
Electoral materials like ballot boxes, voting booths among others were vandalised as a result of suspected election malpractices to favour some incumbent executives. Delegates had already voted for the youth organiser position, the deputy youth organiser, the youth representative, the women’s organiser, and the deputy women’s portfolios respectively before the misunderstanding ensued.
The police had to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd when the altercation led to total pandemonium at the Walewale voting center. The election process ended abruptly.
The police and the party leadership are yet to comment on the incident.
A total of 354,708 delegates are to cast their votes to elect new constituency executives for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the nationwide constituency polls this weekend.
Dokurugu Alhassan