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Dr. Abdul Baasit Aziz Bamba, Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Law School, says that one way to speed up the process in case of an electoral petition is for the Electoral Commission to make the pink sheets and check reports on their website.
Speaking with Samson Anyenini on ‘The Law’ on Accelerated Election Disputes, the keynote speaker indicated that, although the EC makes these documents available to political parties, courtesy should be extended to all Ghanaians, as the common citizen can assume the demand in the case of an electoral petition.
“Not only can candidates in an election present an electoral petition, but citizens can also do so. It is necessary for the EC to find a way to make the pink sheets and the comparison reports available and accessible to the general public ”.
He added that the need to make this information readily available has become more evident with the approval of the Right to Information Law.
“The need to make this information available to citizens has become clearer thanks to the Right to Information Law. Now, a citizen of Ghana has the right to participate in the governance of the country, which includes knowing how the EC conducts its processes, conducts elections and what you have.
And for the common citizen to have that entry into governance, “that citizen needs information and the way to have that information is for the EC to provide it.”
His comment follows a concern raised by a caller about the accessibility of the pink sheets and the results of the match, which may form part of the necessary evidence in the event of a ballot petition.
Dr. Bamba said that if the EC does not provide this information to the general public, “any citizen can take a right to information action to compel the EC to do so.”
That said, host Samson Anyenini pointed to the fact that a right to information action takes a minimum of 14 days within which the requested information is provided. Meanwhile, applicants for election results are limited to 21 days after the results have been announced within which they can submit their election petition.
In response to that, Dr. Bamba Baasit stated that “the path of least resistance is to require the EC to do that, just as the Public Elections Regulation requires the EC to post the Provisional Register on its website, something could be done similar “to force the EC by law to make the electoral reports public.
