Cassiel Ato Forson
The opposition National Democratic Congress, (NDC) Members of Parliament have kicked against a request from the Electoral Commission before Parliament to eliminate the use of indelible ink from the electoral process in the upcoming polls.
The Minority Leader, Cassiel Ato Forson, in his statement during the resumption of the House on February 6, 2024, after a long break from December 23, 2023, says they [minority caucus] will not allow the EC to scrap the use of indelible ink.
According to him “Mr. Speaker, we will not countenance the elimination of indelible ink from the electoral process.
We will not! Read my lips, we will not! Touch wood, we will not”, adding that the use of indelible ink does not only ensure free and fair elections but has been proven to be time-tested for identifying persons who have cast their votes.
He emphatically noted “The truth of the matter is that the use of indelible ink in our electoral process does not harm the conduct of free and fair elections in Ghana. In fact, indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections by ensuring that voters are visibly, transparently, and physically verified in addition to biometric verification’’.
Speaking further, he used the medium to blast the EC, by saying ‘’This Electoral Commission enjoys taking unwholesome decisions, being disruptive, fancies courting public disaffection and enjoys being roundly condemned by right-thinking people’’, adding that ‘’The other time, during the limited voter registration exercise, the Electoral Commission decided to restrict first-time voters to register only at the offices of the Electoral Commission’’.
The Minority Leader added ‘Indelible ink has not only become a feature of our elections in the Fourth Republic, but it is also a time-tested method of easily identifying persons who have already cast their ballot and therefore helps to prevent multiple voting’.
–BY Daniel Bampoe