Dr Edem Selormey (middle) and Dr Kojo Asante addressing the media
Forty-seven percent of voters will readily receive any gifts from politicians and vote for their preferred candidates; while five percent will totally reject such gifts as bait to get their votes, according to a survey conducted by the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana).
The survey, which was conducted between July 2 and 18, 2016, and released yesterday in Accra, comes in the wake of serious allegations of vote buying by President John Mahama – who is currently on a campaign tour of the Western Region. His wife, Lordina Mahama, has also been accused of giving out gifts to buy votes.
They are said to be distributing outboard motors, head pans, clothes and soap to prospective voters in the guise of social support.
The survey did not however, talk about whether such vote buying gifts have the propensity to influence the decision of voters at the polls and to what extent those gifts can influence voters.
Political watchers and analysts have the strong belief that with democracy gaining strong roots in the country and voters becoming more discerning and sophisticated, such free gifts will have little influence on the voting pattern.
The result of the CDD survey, which was presented by a senior research fellow, Dr Selormey, said 68 percent of the respondents across the country were of the opinion that it is completely wrong and also punishable for party officials or candidates to offer money or gifts in return for votes; while 57 percent condemned voters who also accept such gifts.
Twenty-five percent of voters said receiving gifts from politicians as a bait to vote for them is wrong, though it is understandable.
“Most Ghanaians abhor vote buying and believe it is wrong and punishable for a candidate to buy votes and for a citizen to sell his or her vote,” the CDD survey indicated.
The just-outdoored survey pointed out that overwhelming 76 percent of Ghanaians have indicated their willingness to vote on December 7 and that out of that lot 97 percent were able to tell the polling station where they would be casting their votes.
Out of the 2,400 respondents across the 10 regions that were scientifically selected and interviewed, 77 percent said the 2016 general election would be largely free and fair with minor problems, as 63 percent expressed absolute confidence in the Electoral Commission to conduct free and fair elections.
The respondents expressed concern about the electoral system, especially the counting and declaration process which would be done electronically.
“Seven out of 10 Ghanaians (71%) believe they enjoy vote secrecy but a quarter think otherwise. Sixty-three percent believe their votes would be counted but nearly a third remained skeptical while 46% think that a wrong vote tally would likely be announced,” the survey noted.
The respondents also expressed confidence in the police and the army to be very professional during the elections, but gave little compliment about the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), which also has a stake in the successful conduct of the general election.
The respondents say they know very little about NCCE when it comes to education on electoral processes and said they rely heavily on private radio stations and television stations for information on the 2016 polls.
Dr Kojo Asante, who is also a senior research fellow with the CDD, told journalists that the survey was conducted to help the major stakeholders in the election to identify whichever flaws there are in the minds of voters so that they could correct them for very successful polls.
He said the EC must embark on more education about the electronic transmission of the election results so that voters would be clear in their minds when the elections are declared. The NCCE, he charged, must also discharge its constitutional duty of educating Ghanaians on the electoral processes as well as their civic responsibilities.
He also called on civil society organisations which have great interests in free, fair and transparent elections to involve themselves in ensuring that the electorate are well-educated on very important electoral issues before the elections in December, while urging the EC to do the right thing for incident-free elections.
On whether the CDD’s surveys are tailored to benefit certain political parties or the findings are partisan in nature, Dr Asante said those who perceive the CDD to be partisan and not credible do so at their own peril because it is recognised globally as a respected research body.
By Thomas Fosu Jnr