Electoral Commission (EC) has announced plans to enhance transparency in the 2024 General Election by displaying results from various polling stations on a dedicated online platform.
Mrs. Jane Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, revealed this initiative during a stakeholder meeting organized by the National Peace Council at Peduase in the Eastern Region.
The meeting aimed to assess events after the 2020 General election and prepare for the upcoming 2024 General Election.
As part of this transparency effort, the EC intends to publish scanned, signed pink sheets on the online portal, providing the public with real-time access to polling station results.
Mrs. Mensa emphasised that this decision is geared towards fostering inclusion and actively involving citizens in the electoral process.
“We intend to display the results from the polling station on a dedicated portal. This proposal aligns with the EU Observer Mission recommendation. For the first time in our history, we posted results from the 16 Regions and 275 constituencies in real time.
“This time around, we plan to display the scanned, signed pink sheets on a dedicated portal. We are confident that this arrangement will promote transparency and engender further trust and confidence in our electoral processes,” she said.
EC to close polls at 3pm
The Electoral Commission (EC) has put forward a proposal to conclude polling activities by 15:00 hours in an effort to facilitate the counting process in broad daylight, thus contributing to increased transparency.
This decision is based on observations from the 2020 Election, where approximately 70 percent of polling centres were reportedly vacant by 13:00 hours.
The EC attributed this trend to the establishment of multiple polling centres, which expedited the voting process.
Mrs. Jane Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, outlined the intention to create numerous polling centres with each having no more than 500 voters to streamline the voting duration.
This strategy, implemented in the last election, resulted in voters spending no more than five minutes casting their votes due to the increased number of voting centres. The overarching goal is to enhance efficiency and transparency in the electoral process.
“We are convinced that closing the polls at 3pm will enable counting and collating to take place in broad daylight and promote the needed transparency and orderliness we so desire.
“We trust that our Parliament will support this drive to ensure greater transparency and orderliness in our electoral process,” Mrs Mensa said.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has suggested the implementation of a year-round exhibition exercise that would allow citizens to verify their registration details using smartphones and other mobile devices.
Mrs. Jane Mensa, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, expressed optimism that Parliament would approve the new Constitutional Instrument advocating for a continuous voter registration exercise.
This proposal aims to designate the Ghana Card as the sole identification document to establish an applicant’s citizenship, with the objective of phasing out the guarantor system.
The guarantor system has faced challenges and compromised the credibility of the voter register.
Mrs. Mensa highlighted the importance of this initiative in addressing existing issues and enhancing the reliability of the electoral process.
Reverend Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Peace Council, affirmed the Council’s commitment to engaging in continuous dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure a peaceful election in 2024.
He specifically appealed to the National Democratic Congress to rejoin the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to facilitate consensus-building and collaborative efforts in the electoral process.
“If we all commit to peace Ghana will have one of the best elections in Africa,” he said.
Ms Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said the 2024 Election was peculiar in the wake of political instability in the West Africa Sub-region.
“We are more vulnerable than before. We must work with each other and assure each other so that we can arrive at the elections and beyond the elections in peace and intact,” she said.