Political Parties in Ghana have, almost, unanimously commended the Electoral Commission (EC) for conducting “transparent, credible, fair” elections that “met international standards” in 2020.
This was contained in a communique released by the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) after a two-day review workshop on the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections of Ghana.
The two-day workshop was held from May 18 to 19 as part of the EC’s commitment to strengthening and deepening Ghana’s electoral processes and elections.
The workshop was aimed at assessing the processes leading to the 2020 elections and the election itself with the view to proposing recommendations for reforms. It was, however, boycotted by the opposition National Democratic Congress.
“The Political Parties at the meeting unanimously agreed that the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections were effectively and successfully organised; that the elections were transparent, credible, fair and met international standards,” the communique said.
Recommendations
The parties agreed to the proposed implementation of the continuous voter registration exercise to enable citizens who turn 18 years and those who had not previously registered to do so.
They also agreed to the setting up of a committee to deliberate on the implementation modalities for continuous voter registration, adding that the registration should be implemented with proof of citizenship being limited to the use of Ghana Card and Ghana Passport since the guarantee system is often abused.
The parties further agreed to introduce an all-year round voter exhibition exercise through the use of technology (SMS short code) while also agreeing to maintain the periodic mass verification at exhibition centres.
They also agreed to put in place a cut-off time for the continuous voter register exhibition to allow for the compilation of the register for voting on Election Day.
Nominations and security
On nominations, the parties agreed that the five-day period for filing of nominations introduced in 2020 should be maintained while the period set aside to enable the political parties to obtain signatures from their supporters should be increased.
“The period for Election Campaign should be defined. It should commence after the nominations are filed.
“Encourage nominations of female and persons with disabilities (PWDs) candidates by reducing their filing fees by 50%,” the communique added.
It was also agreed that security around elections is the responsibility of the Ghana Police Service, and that the Service should arrange a periodic platform to engage IPAC and other stakeholders.
“Ghana Police Service should provide updates on the 2020 Elections malpractices and violence.
“Political Parties and the Media must show commitment to the democratic process and be mindful of their comments, as some of their statements have the tendency to provoke violence and inflame tensions and suspicions,” the communique added.
Election
It added that certified regional collated results should be announced by the Chairperson to reduce tension and suspicion, adding, however, that the Commission should state clearly the percentage of results yet to be released, among others.
It was further agreed that ballot boxes should be affixed to tables in a bid to avoid snatching.
On special voting, the parties also have agreed that the current arrangement whereby the media, security services and election officials are allowed to apply and vote under the Special Voting period should be maintained until such a time that the process is fully entrenched.
Further discussions
Meanwhile, IPAC also agreed to have further discussion on some of the already agreed proposals.
Some issues that need further discussion include validation of voters during exhibition to indicate that they will be available for the impending elections; encouraging nominations of female and persons with disabilities (PWDs) candidates by reducing their filing fees by 50 per cent; and refunding of nomination deposits for all contesting candidates.
On the election itself, IPAC has agreed to have further discussion on the recommendation to have data entry only at the constituency collation centre so as to reduce manual inputs at all levels and other technological suggestions to strengthen results collation.
It also agreed to the introduction of results collation at the Electoral Area and affixing ballot boxes to tables/stands in a bid to avoid ballot box snatching.
About The Author
