NPP Presidential Primaries: Phones And Cameras To Be Banned Combat Vote Buying

• The New Patriotic Party and Electoral Commission have put new measures in place to ensure fair primaries
• The NPP primaries will feature a new serialisation system to protect the identity of delegates who cast their ballots during the polls
• YEN.com.gh spoke to a political analyst who stressed that more needed to be done to end vote buying

Phones and cameras are expected to be banned during the voting process in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential primaries.

A comprehensive serialisation system will also be put in place to further bolster the integrity of the election.

Reports from Citi News indicate these measures have been put in place to ensure a fair and transparent election process.

The party believes the serialisation process will ensure that delegates' identities are hidden. It is also hoped that this measure will make identifying who voted for which candidate impossible.

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In addition, the serialisation will be accompanied by a walk-in concept rather than identifying delegates by name.

Vote buying has been observed in recent elections and widely condemned by observers.

Political parties urged to reform against vote buying

Commenting on the development to YEN.com.gh, Dr.Nansata Yakubu, a political analyst and democracy engineer, noted that the challenge of vote buying extended beyond just the purview of the EC.

Ultimately, she said the political parties themselves have the biggest role to play in combating vote buying.

“The bigger challenge is what happens before the day of the vote. That is the critical phase. What happens before the day of the vote is more important because the candidates know the delegates.”

Yakubu however commended the measures put in place to bolster the integrity of the voting process.

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"If names are not attached to when people got to vote and the voting area itself is cleared of. All the observers are kept at a particular distance and people are not called at a particular manner, I think that helps the process," the analyst said.

The NPP's Super Delegates Conference is slated for August 26, 2023, while the National Presidential Primary has been slated for November 4, 2023.

The NPP currently has 10 aspirants in the race: Mahamudu Bawumia, Kennedy Agyapong, Alan Kyerematen, Boakye Agyarko, Dr Kofi Konadu Apraku, Dr Owusu Akoto Afriyie, Francis Addai-Nimoh, Joe Ghartey, Kennedy Ohene, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, and Kwadwo Poku.

Aspirants opposed to format of the primaries

YEN.com.gh earlier reported that nine out of the 10 NPP flagbearer aspirants petitioned the party’s leadership to centralise its upcoming special delegates' congress.

Though the NPP plans to hold the congress on a regional level, the petitioners felt this would negatively affect the party.

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The only aspirant not a signatory to the petition was Vice President Bawumia.

The petitioners feel it is not prudent to decentralise an election that will feature just 900 voters.

NPP dismisses petition from aspirants

The NPP National Council dismissed the petition by the nine presidential aspirants, who were pushing for the first presidential primary to be centralised.

The National Council of the party said it would stick to what was in the NPP’s constitution after a meeting on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

The NPP is holding a first primary because according to its constitution, if there are more than five aspirants, a special delegates congress must be held to reduce the number of aspirants.

Source: YEN.com.gh