A growing ‘political party’ in Ghana’s democracy

Opinions on Saturday, November 14, 2020

Columnist: Article by Fidelis Awonodomo Da-uri

2020-11-14

Ghana has held successive elections since 1992, giving Ghanaians the right to choose who becomes their President and Member of Parliament every four years.

In all successive elections held in Ghana, the method used to elect political leaders has always been the thumb, in which the decisions of the citizens are made by vote.

Despite numerous successful elections in Ghana, the issue of rejected ballots has been a growing challenge in every general election. And this makes it difficult to know the true wishes of the voters in some cases.

In most cases, the percentage of rejected votes far exceeds the number of votes obtained by some political parties in a general election. Furthermore, these rejected ballots could have been added to the votes of the political parties or candidates that lost elections to make them winners.

If the rejected ballots were a political party in Ghana, they could boast a steady rise in performance and popularity ahead of smaller parties since Ghana returned to multi-party democracy.

For example, Ghana has recorded rejected votes since 1992 as follows: 1992 – 64,354 rejected votes (3.02%), 1996 – 111,108 rejected votes (1.53%), 2000 first run; 119,362 rejected votes (1.8%) and the second round – 104,214 rejected votes (1.53%), 2004 – 188,123 rejected votes (2.13%), 2008 – 205,438 rejected votes (2.4%) in the first return; 92,886 rejected votes (1.02%) in the second round, 2012-251,720 rejected votes and 2016-168, 882 rejected votes (1.54%).

In the 2008 general election, for example, if the rejected ballots were valid, one of the two main political parties (Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the NDC and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the NPP) could have won the first round. of the elections. This would have saved the country millions of cedis that entered the second round and would also avoid the unnecessary political tensions that accompanied it.

It is a known fact that within the internal elections of political parties where few of their members in leadership positions vote to elect their leaders, rejected ballots are always recorded. This means that political leaders in districts, branches, polling stations, and electoral areas lack the capacity to provide voter education within their areas.

In many cases, these rejected ballots are recorded as a result of leaving an ink mark in two or more boxes on a ballot for each of the candidates. For example, accidentally touching a ballot with an inked finger while the ballot is folded or placed in the ballot box invalidates the ballot. On the other hand, while a voter is being processed to vote, one finger of each of the two hands must bear an ink mark. One, after going through the verification process and second, while printing the thumb at the booth or folding it after casting your vote. The ballot can accidentally get dirty while you are in the booth to cast your vote. Tension, fear and ignorance also sometimes lead voters to soil their ballots and annul their election.

These rejected ballots disenfranchise all those who cast them. Unfortunately, those who cast those votes were mostly unaware that their democratic rights had not been recognized. It is very painful to stand in line for hours under a blazing sun to cast a vote in an exercise that gives them the only chance in four years to have a say in who rules them, only to have their votes rejected.

Also, who decides which ballot to reject and which is not a major concern, as most temporary Election Commission staff may have an interest in who wins or is not well trained to be truthful and fair during ballot counting. This sometimes creates confusion in some polling stations during the count and provides loopholes for cheating.

Experts say that with the two leading political parties in first and second place on the ballot, there is the possibility of an increase in rejected ballots in both parliamentary and presidential results.

Therefore, it is necessary for political parties to not only focus on selling their messages to the electorate, but for voter education to be an important activity for all political parties. When citizens know the causes, the effects and how to reduce the chances that their votes will be rejected, the rejected ballots in the next elections on December 7 will be reduced.

The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) is required to conduct vigorous voter education across the country. Local FM broadcasters should also include voter education in their programs to raise awareness about the causes, effects, and how to prevent rejection of ballots in the upcoming general election.

EC staff hired temporarily must be professional in the performance of their duties. They must be true and fair for all political parties. Political party agents must not only be vigilant during the sorting and counting of ballots, but they must also be fair in defending which vote should or should not be rejected during the count. Security officers deployed to provide polling station security must act in a professional and impartial manner during voting, counting, and reporting results.

Ghana has done it before. Let us do it again to remain the model of African democracy with a reduced number of rejected votes and a free, fair and transparent form.