First-time voters are the kingmakers, take them seriously – Youth Bridge Foundation to political parties

All political parties contesting in the upcoming polls have been urged to take first-time voters seriously as they form a greater proportion of the voting population in the country.

This was made known by the Executive Director of the Youth Bridge Foundation, Seth Oteng during a meeting with the leadership of the Electoral Commission (EC), October 29, 2020.

While acknowledging the EC’s initiative to interact with first-time voters ahead of December polls, he said “political parties out there may want to take the first-time voters serious because they are the kingmakers.”

According to Mr Oteng his assertion was based on data from the Electoral Commission which indicated that the first time voters population in the 2016 election hovered around 21 percent.

Inferring from this, he said first time voters have the power to cause substantive shifts in the country’s political scene this year.

“…we expect that when the register is finalized the number is likely to go up. So, for the Electoral Commission to recognize the important role of the youth and the first time voter in Ghana’s election 2020 is very much welcome…,” he said.

The Electoral Commission in August 2020, after the compilation of the voters’ register announced that a total of 16.9million citizens had been registered.

Out of the total number, about 1.3 million first-time voters were registered.