Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chairperson Erastus Ethekon has warned against the abuse of assisted voting and the presence of unauthorised political agents during the Ol Kalou parliamentary by-election scheduled for Thursday, July 16, 2026.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, Ethekon said the IEBC is committed to protecting the rights of voters who require assistance and ensuring the integrity of the process.

He explained that assisted voting is only available to voters who genuinely require help, including persons with disabilities and those unable to independently complete the voting process.

“In some instances, we have those voters who, for one reason or another, are not able to go through the voting process and they require special assistance, be they people with disability or some form of illiteracy,” he said.

Freedom to choose who to assist

Ethekon said such voters have the freedom to choose who assists them.

“The law allows that those voters can be assisted by a person of their choice. So nobody should force anybody to be assisted. If they wish to be assisted and our officials have verified that the person requires assistance, let that person choose a person of his or her choice to assist that person,” he said.

He also cautioned against individuals moving from one voter to another under the guise of offering assistance.

“No one person is allowed to assist more than one voter. We will not see a situation where one person is hovering around the polling stations and purporting to be assisting one voter after another. It is only one person to assist one voter, end of story,” Ethekon said.

Report voting violation

He urged residents of Ol Kalou to remain vigilant and report any attempts to violate the assisted voting rules.

The IEBC chair also outlined strict regulations governing political party agents at polling stations and the constituency tallying centre.

“Each participating political party or candidate is entitled to appoint one agent at each polling station and one chief agent at the tallying centre,” he said.

According to Ethekon, only accredited agents issued with official IEBC badges will be allowed inside polling stations.

“We shall not allow anybody roaming around our polling stations purporting to be agents if they are not appointed by the political parties or the candidates themselves. Our office gives them accreditation badges. Anybody who does not possess an accreditation badge should not be seen roaming around our polling station. The police, the security, will take action, and our officials will take action,” he warned.