- "Some of the things made a lot of sense, especially bringing closure of election to 3pm. NDC critiqued it and I thought they made a lot of sense because from 1992 up till now we haven’t been able to commence election on time in all polling stations. Sometimes you have election commencing at 11am."
Professor Ransford Gyampo, an associate professor at the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, has backed the decision by opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to kick against proposals by the Electoral Commission (EC) to close polls at 3pm in future polls.
“Some of the things made a lot of sense, especially bringing closure of election to 3pm. NDC critiqued it and I thought they made a lot of sense because from 1992 up till now we haven’t been able to commence election on time in all polling stations. Sometimes you have election commencing at 11am,” Prof Gyampo told Asaase News.
“And if you say they should close at 3pm then there is going to be stampede and chaos and all that. But I felt that some of these laudable counter proposals could be brainstormed and could be talked about at a roundtable where all participants and stakeholders are, but as it stands now the NDC is not prepared to be part of IPAC processes and all that.”
Prof Gyampo, however, described calls by the NDC to be given more voice at Inter Party Advisory Committee meeting by the EC as very ridiculous since Ghana is practicing a multi-party democracy.
On his part, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, mayor of Accra said efforts must be made to bring the NDC on the negotiation table since they play a critical role in the country’s democracy.
“I think that the NDC is an important institution that we need to find a way of bringing to the table, what they are doing currently is part of the politics and it is understandable because they have to. You know [they have to] agitate against the Electoral Commission to fire their base,” Adjei-Sowah said.
Background
The NDC believes the move to close polls at 3pm instead of 5pm is a ploy to disenfranchise Ghanaians in future polls.
Addressing the media in Accra on Thursday (20 May), Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the director of elections for the NDC, said the current system of closing polls at 5pm has been employed for seven consecutive general elections without any challenges and needs no amendment.
He added that the EC’s proposal would make room for some Ghanaians to be disenfranchised.
“If it’s not broken, don’t fix”
“Our position on this proposal is simple. The current arrangement on the closure of polls at 5pm has worked perfectly in seven general elections in this country and does not require any fixing.
“So if the 5pm hasn’t created any problem for us over the past seven elections then why do you want to change it, for what purpose? They are the ones who open rooms for people to speculate because it is a complete unreasonable proposition,” Ankrah said.
The NDC also kicked against the substitution of the periodic mass registration with the all-year round registration, saying the move is not feasible and would not be convenient for most eligible Ghanaians.
Continuous registration
“We wish to remind the electoral commission that the all-round continuous registration of eligible voters is not new. The law requires the commission to put in mechanisms to ensure that at any time that citizens become eligible to vote, they can be registered.
“However, there are systems of checks and balances that we all agreed at IPAC so that when that time comes, the political parties are there to ensure the system is not manipulated. So if you say it is all-year round now, are we going to employ people from the political parties and put them at the various EC district offices so that they can be monitoring what is going on?
“So continuous registration cannot be a substitute for periodic voter’s registration. Has the commission considered citizens who would have to travel miles to district offices to register?” the NDC said.
Fred Dzakpata
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