Persons whose names are on the special voters’ list will not be allowed to vote on Wednesday, December 7. According to the Electoral Commission (EC) such persons will be regarded as absent voters.

The EC in a press release warned that “all voters whose names are included in the special voters’ list are legally part of the absent voters’ list at their original polling stations. Therefore, their bar codes would be deactivated and they will not be able to vote on December 7, 2016.”

This fate would have befallen hundreds of special voters in the various regions who queued at polling stations across the country on Thursday but  could not cast   their ballots during the special voting exercise.

Some people who were also supposed to vote outside their original constituencies were turned away by Returning Officers.

But following an emergency Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on Thursday evening, the EC decided to extend the special voting exercise to Sunday, December 4, to allow persons who couldn't vote to do so.

The extended exercise will be for persons whose names are included in the earlier special voters list or the updated one provided to political parties, the EC said in its statement.

Persons who transferred their vote and whose names appeared on the special voters’ list but could not vote on December 1, 2016 were also factored into the extension.

Persons who did not transfer their vote but whose names appeared on the special voters’ list in the constituency where they are registered to vote, comprise the final category of persons expected to benefit from the extension of the special voting.

Thus the EC urged everyone in “the above listed categories to take advantage of this opportunity to exercise their franchise.”

–citifmonline