Jean Mensa
The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has hinted of plans by the commission to display results from the various polling stations across the country on a dedicated online portal as part of efforts to enhance transparency in the 2024 General Election.
The EC Chairperson, who made this known at a stakeholder meeting held at Peduase by the National Peace Council to take stock of events after the 2020 General Election yesterday, said it will display scanned pink sheets on the portal for the public to access in real-time during the 2024 elections.
Mrs. Mensa said the decision to publish polling station results would promote inclusion and involve citizens throughout the election 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 added.
The EC also proposed for the closure of polls at 1pm to ensure votes cast are counted in broad daylight to enhance transparency.
According to her, the 2020 Election indicated that by 1pm, about 70 per cent of polling centres were empty of voters due to the creation of multiple polling centres across the country.
She said the EC also intended to create many polling centres to ensure each polling centre do not have more than 500 voters, to reduce voting time.
She said in the last election, voters spent not more than five minutes in casting their ballot because of the creation of more voting centres and, therefore, convinced that closing the polls at 3pm will enable counting and collating to take place in broad daylight to increase the level of transparency as well as orderliness.
While hopeful that Parliament would support the proposals to ensure greater transparency, she also proposed an all-year-round exhibition exercise which would enable electorates check their registration details digitally on smart phones and other mobile devices.
She noted, “We are hopeful that Parliament would also pass the new Constitutional Instrument to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document to establish an applicant’s citizenship, to phase out the guarantor system which had been fraught with challenges and undermines the credibility of the voters register.”
Rev. Dr. Ernest Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Peace Council, for his part, said the Council would continuously dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure peaceful elections in 2024, while appealing to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to return to the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to foster consensus building.
Ms. Kathleen Addy, Chairperson of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said the country was more vulnerable than before given the political upheavals and instability recorded in the West African sub-region.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah