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A survey conducted by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has revealed that a higher proportion of Ghanaians have expressed their willingness to vote for a woman as president when the opportunity arises.
According to a recent poll conducted by the commission across the country, a relatively higher proportion of respondents, 66.2 percent, affirmed their willingness to vote for a woman as president, while 23.2 percent said the opposite.
The poll labeled “The 2020 Elections: Ghana Voter Concerns” has been an electoral task for the NCCE since 2004.
Provides quantitative data through opinion polls and sample surveys on issues of concern to the Ghanaian voter.
The 2020 survey collected information from 9,541 Ghanaians from 275 constituencies in September 2020.
Ms. Josephine Nkrumah, NCCE President, explained in an interview with the Ghana News Agency that the objectives of the survey were to explore people’s willingness to cast their vote.
It was also to provide political parties, presidential candidates and parliamentarians with key issues of interest to the Ghanaian voter and to outline the expectations of citizens during the general elections.
Ms. Nkrumah noted that about nine percent of those surveyed were undecided about whether they would vote during the presidential election, which was similar to the 2016 poll results with a slightly smaller margin of 2.9 percent.
The study found that of the 7,680 respondents who voted in the 2016 election, a higher proportion, 69.6 percent, are ready to vote for the same party that voted, versus 10.2 percent who will change their voting pattern vote.
“More men, 12.6 percent, have voted in the seven presidential and parliamentary elections compared to 8.0 percent of women. In terms of age, less than one percent of Ghanaians between 18 and 40 had ever voted more than four times, ”he explained.
The 2020 Matters of Concern poll showed that out of a sample size of 1206 respondents who have never voted in any of the elections, less than one percent of them were 20 years old; while a higher proportion of 12.2 percent were under 20 years of age.
The poll also found that some respondents were unwilling to vote on December 7 as a result of the lack of development activities in their constituency – 22.0 percent; personal reasons: 19 percent; and impossibility of acquiring the new voter identification card: 15.7%.
The 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana become the eighth in a row under the fourth republic.
Ms. Nkrumah explained that elections provide citizens with the opportunity to select their representatives in accordance with article (42) of the 1992 Constitution.
The Constitution prescribes “every citizen over 18 years of age and in his right mind the right to vote.”
The 2020 NCCE report is the result of detailed data analyzed, therefore, beyond serving as an indicator of voter turnout, the report will increase understanding of the effectiveness of the various interventions initiated by past and present governments on the education, health and employment needs to improve the lives of Ghanaians.
Concerns about education, health and employment have been the dominant issues of concern reported in the previous NCCE ‘Issues of Concern for Ghana Voter Polls’.
—- GNA
