EC to allow only 12 Media Houses into regional collation centres

The Electoral Commission (EC) has instructed its regional directors to limit media and observer access to collation centres during the 2024 general election, emphasizing the need for a secure and efficient collation process.

Under the new guidelines, only eight media houses will be allowed at each constituency collation centre. At the regional collation centres, the EC has set a limit of 12 media houses, consisting of five TV stations and seven radio stations.

Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, Deputy Commissioner of the EC, clarified the decision during an interview on Eyewitness News on Tuesday, November 26.

He explained that the restrictions are intended to streamline the collation process and ensure smooth operations at both constituency and regional levels.

“We arrived at our conclusion based on our history and the nature of the collation centres. If you are not very careful and you don’t manage the centres very well, you may end up having a lot of challenges to deal with.

“So, the commission believes that this particular arrangement will create a very smooth coalition exercise at the constituency and the regional level.

“We are not only reducing numbers for the media, it is something which cuts across. We are making the point that with the 8 media houses, let us take a constituency like Banda, Hohoe, or Bantama and you have eight media houses, we think they should be enough to be able to send the information,” he stated.