People

Top 5 measures EC used to ensure December 7 general election is free and fair

Wednesday, December 09, 2020 at 5:06 AM by Ebenezer Agbey Quist

According to Osce.usmission.gov, features of free and fair elections include a society that encourages citizens to vote, that provides space for political parties to work and campaign freely and independent media and civil society to flourish, and that has built a judiciary capable of acting with impartiality

Trending topics on the go: How we write news at YEN.com.gh

For the past 28 years, Ghana has had very peaceful transitions of power between the two major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

YEN.com.gh takes a look at what makes Ghana's election so free, fair, just and transparent.

1. The Electoral Commission is independent

The body that oversees the presidential and elections in Ghana is considered highly independent.

For instance, the EC, currently chaired by Jean Mensah, recently promised to be unbiased towards any of the political parties and to ensure that the election results reflect the will of the people.

Read also

Explainer: How the winner of the presidential elections will be selected

2. Party agents witness all processes

At every stage of the vote-counting process, all the political parties are heavily represented to witness what unfolds and ensure the right thing is done.

At the very basic level, polling agents from the different political divides witness the vote casting and counting processes and register their satisfaction for the results obtained.

The trend continues to the constituency and regional levels until the final results are declared by the EC chairperson.

3. Inclusion of biometric registration

One of the major elements of a free and fair election is for every voter to be able to cast their votes only once.

Ghana has added a layer to its measures that ensure everyone is able to vote only once by including a biometric verification system that makes it impossible for someone to vote again.

This is because the system identifies the fingerprint of all the voters and detects any repetitions and duplicates.

Read also

Election 2020: We will declare elections results within 24hrs - EC resolves

4. Transparent ballot boxes

At every polling station in Ghana, only transparent ballot boxes are used.

This makes it clear to every observer, the number of ballot papers every voter pushes into the box.

At the end of the day, everyone is satisfied that the election is free, fair and transparent.

5. Open counting

When the voting exercise is finished at every polling station, the ballot papers are not taken out of sight before the results are declared.

The law requires that the vote is counted in the open for all to see and that the result is declared at the polling station level before it is submitted for collation at the constituency level and so on.

It is practically possible for anyone interested to trace and follow the result until it's finally declared at the national level.

In other news, Rebecca Naa Okaikor Akufo-Addo, the wife of Ghana's President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is lending him unflinching support to win 2020 general elections.