Dr. Kwame Asah-Asante, a Political Science lecturer at the University of Ghana, has voiced skepticism regarding the Electoral Commission’s (EC) proposal to close polls at 3 PM instead of the customary 5 PM.
Dr. Asah-Asante expressed uncertainty about the practical implementation of this proposal and cautioned the EC against any measures that could potentially disenfranchise eligible voters.
His remarks highlight concerns about the impact of such a change on the electoral process and the need to ensure that all citizens have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote.
Speaking on an interview with Ghana360news, he said, “It is a difficult thing and I don’t know how they want to handle this. My advice to them is that if for nothing at all, they should be able to make sure that we have an election that is not compromised in any way. For instance, we don’t want to see any group of people who, because of this decision, are going to be disenfranchised, that will not bode well for the elections that we are going to have in 2024.
“We also want to have a situation where the problems that previously we had, this decision will not compound them. We expect nothing but an improvement over the past experience to usher us into a new election that is free from all the evils that rear their ugly heads in democracies where there are difficulties and where sometimes it creates problems.”
Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa, the Chairperson of the Commission, has put forth a proposal to conclude voting at 3 PM, emphasizing that this adjustment aims to enable electoral officers to collate votes in daylight hours for enhanced transparency and orderliness. The rationale behind the proposal is to facilitate a more efficient and transparent vote-counting process, ensuring that electoral procedures are conducted under optimal conditions.
“Electoral Commission Chairperson Cites Past Experience in Proposal to Close Polls Early”
During an inter-party dialogue and stock-taking conference organized by the National Peace Council in Accra on Thursday, December 14, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, explained that the proposal to close polls at 3 PM is based on the experience from the 2020 elections. She noted that approximately 70 percent of voting centers were vacant by 1:00 PM during the previous election, prompting the consideration for an earlier closure to optimize resource allocation and streamline the vote collation process.
“In 2020, 70 percent of our polling centres had a voter threshold of 500 and below. This time we intend to ensure that all our polling station centers have a threshold of 500 voters and below. In the same vein, we will increase the number of our polling stations nationwide.
“We believe that this will go a long way to reduce the long queues that characterize our elections and allow for a smooth, seamless, hustle-free voting process. In 2020, it took voters not more than five minutes to cast their votes due to the introduction of this policy.
“Based on our 2020 experience and also feedback from several observer groups, we propose to close the polls at 3:00pm.
“Our experience in 2020 reveals that by 1:00pm, 70 percent of our polling stations were empty of voters as most voters had cast their votes. This was possible because the threshold of most polling centers was reduced to 500 voters per voting center.
“This was coupled with the robust verification devices that were deployed to the polling stations. We are convinced that by closing the polls at 3:00pm, we will be able to count and collate in broad daylight and this will promote the needed transparency and orderliness that we so desire,” Mrs. Mensa said.
Source: Ghana360news.com
