Carter Centre leans on EC for fair vote

Accra, Aug. 27, GNA - The Carter Center has said it believes that the Electoral Commission has the capacity to conduct the December elections in a professional and transparent manner.

However, significant confidence building and corrective measures must be undertaken to bolster the public trust that all political actors are committed to the rules as set out in the constitution and the electoral law, to conduct a clean campaign, and to produce credible election results.

The Carter Centre, which is headed by former US President Jimmy Carter, was commenting on the just-ended limited voter registration exercise which was dogged by problems such as alack of logistics, registration of minors and violence.

The Carter Centre delegation of international observers was in Ghana from July 17 to August 13 to observe the exercise and to assess preparations for the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The observers visited seven of the country's 10 regions - Greater Accra, Ashanti, Central, Eastern, Northern, Volta, and Western - and had permanent teams placed in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern and Volta regions throughout their one-month observation mission.

The limited voter registration exercise aimed to provide an opportunity for those who had recently turned 18 years or were absent from the voter register for other reasons, to register in time to vote on December 7.

The Carter Centre, which has observed all elections in Ghana since 1992, said in a statement to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday that the limited voter registration exercise that took place July 31 - August 12 was "generally successful but hampered by several irregularities".

"Despite notable weaknesses in the implementation of the limited registration effort, the overall credibility of the Ghanaian electoral process has not been lost. Most polling officials and political party agents completed their duties with commendable professionalism." It said the concerns of its observers included multiple delays in the dates of the voter registration period, widespread shortage of essential materials, a lack of adequate voter education and civic awareness, and acts of intimidation committed by the two main political parties, sometimes leading to violence.

The Carter observers noted that efforts of Electoral Commission (EC), National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and civil society organizations to educate voters on registration procedures included posters, radio and television advertisements.

However these efforts were too limited to properly educate the public on the procedures and objectives of the voter registration exercise.

It said despite the lack of adequate outreach, the overall turnout was very high, more so in urban than rural areas, and exceeded the EC's estimate of 800,000 to one million potential registrants. Party agents from the two largest political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), were seen at every registration centre visited by Center observers, the report said.

"Party agents in a number of registration centres acted as substitutes for the election officials in determining the eligibility of citizens to register.

"In some cases, the eligibility of registrants was determined outside of the official procedure leading to concerns about foreign, underage, or multiple registration attempts. In other stations, the political parties provided food for the election officials. These actions could compromise the appearance of impartiality on the part of the EC."

The Carter Centre observers said they also noted frequent party-sanctioned busing in swing vote areas.

"The busing could have been legitimate in some cases. However, inadequate citizen education about the registration process coupled with the possibility that the busing was the product of political party attempts to rig the voter's roll, fuelled public suspicions that could undermine the credibility of the registration."

The report noted that a lack of essential registration materials was reported in all of the regions the observers visited. Missing materials ranged from batteries for cameras to registration forms to a sufficient number of printers.

"These equipment shortages led to long delays and increased tension among citizens and political party representatives. This tension in turn led to some election officials taking shortcuts to expedite the process."

They also noted the use of older Polaroid cameras instead of the newly procured digital cameras saying in some areas, non-serialized registration forms were used in place of the standard forms. These forms lacked space for photographs and led to confusion among election officers, political party agents, observers, and citizens who were attempting to register.

The Observer mission noted that shortages also caused suspicion from the political parties and the media about why the shortages existed if the EC had received all necessary funding for electoral activities. It said although not widespread, cases of violence and intimidation were recorded at registration centres in the Ashanti and Northern regions.

There were confrontations between registrants and EC officials that potentially could have degenerated into violence and disruption of the registration process. In many instances, EC officials were afraid for their safety.

"In several areas visited by observers, it was clear that the lack of political tolerance produced an intimidating environment. In some cases, those situations devolved into violent confrontations between supporters of the two dominant political parties."

The Carter Centre urged the government and the international donor community to continue to provide the EC with all the resources it needs to conduct a transparent and credible election process, including disbursement of resources in a timely manner for all future phases of the December 7 elections.

It said the EC should create opportunities for all eligible registrants who, through no fault of their own, were not able to be register within the 10 day limited voter registration exercise or during the two additional days provided - due to long queues or long periods of time in various polling centres where limited or no registration materials were available.

"The EC should ensure that political parties and citizens are informed of the mechanisms in place to resolve electoral disputes, particularly in the event of a closely contested election.

"Political parties and candidates should abide by the 2008 Political Parties' Code of Conduct and respect the interventions of the Code of Conduct enforcement body.

"The EC should ensure that all ad hoc staff members are adequately trained in the task of administering elections and are aware of their appropriate relationship to political party agents in future registration efforts but also during voting operations."

It said the EC, in cooperation with the NCCE, should embark on more effective and timely voter education activities to ensure that citizens are familiar with and understand polling procedures.