Experience Of A First Time Voter

A woman believed to be in her late twenties took observers and voters by surprise when she struggled to cast her vote at a polling station at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region. The woman looked confounded, terrified and shaken when she was given ballot papers to vote Friday. She murmured in Twi " I have not voted before. I have not done this before," and attempted to dash to her husband for assistance. It all started when she attempted to communicate with her husband after she had been given the ballot paper for the Presidential elections at the Presby Boys Chebitenya Polling Station to cast her vote. She was stopped mid way by the Presiding Officer while moving towards her husband who was then standing at a distance for guidance. For almost 10 minutes, the Presiding Officer, Ms Paulina Akatse, educated her on the dos and donts of elections. Although, able bodied and sound minded, the woman appeared not to have a clue on how to cast a ballot. She pleaded with the Presiding Officer to allow her to consult her husband but the Presiding Officer stuck to her guns and insisted the proper thing must be done. Realizing there was not much "help" in sight for her, the bewildered woman gave up, went to the ballot box and cast her ballot the way she could. She left the polling station looking tearful and stating "I have never voted before."