National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for the North Tongu constituency in the Volta Region, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has advised the national leadership of the party, not to leave polling station jobs in the hands of any 'Tom, Dick and Harry' in the party.

According to him, the job of a polling agent is a very important one that must not be left in the hands of just anybody going into the 2024 general elections.

That job, he pointed out, is the lifeline of ensuring victory in an election.

He said people who must be made polling agents must be well-versed in arithmetic and more.

The opposition MP gave this advice to the party in an interview on The Citizens Show with sit-in host Nana Ama Agyarko on Accra 100.5 FM on Thursday, May 25, 2023.    

The lawmaker was a polling agent in the just-ended by-election held at Kumawu in the Ashanti Region.

He said he was convinced the work of an agent in an election must not be left to just anybody to do, hence his decision to serve in that capacity during the by-election.

“A polling agent plays an important role in any election,” he stressed.

He cited what transpired during the by-election where some polling agents were made to sign pink sheets ahead of the polls.

This, he maintained, was dangerous, adding that agents did not know that what they were doing was wrong.

He said when the NDC agents were queried, they stated it was the returning officer of the Electoral Commission (EC) who asked them to sign the pink sheet so they could speed up the process of collation.  

He was of the view that, had this happened in a presidential election, the effect would have been dire because the Supreme Court (SC) would admit these pink sheets as a true copy of what transpired