Voting time cut: Don’t give yourself unnecessary pressure – Casely-Hayford to EC

Member of OcccupyGhana, Sydney Casely-Hayford has advised the Electoral Commissioner, Jean Mensa, to desist from implementing the proposed voting time cut as it would merely mount on her unnecessary pressure.

His comment comes after the EC Chair on September 9, 2019 announced, that her outfit is considering the idea of reducing the voting time from 7am to 4pm instead of the usual 7am to 5pm, as part of efforts to promote transparency in the voting process.

Jean Mensa said this extra one hour, is to give enough room for the counting of ballots and collation of results before night falls.

She added that this move will facilitate the early declaration of election results.

But Mr Casely-Hayford, speaking to the host of Citi TV’s 'The Big Issue' on Saturday said, “Whether you count a ballot in the natural sunlight or whether you count it with florescent,… it doesn’t change anything and I think Jean Mensa should sit up and not allow herself to be pressurized by ‘unnecessaries’”.

He added that the EC, instead of changing the voting time, should rather ‘make sure there is enough light’ during counting.

"Where is the pressure coming from? This new system doesn’t change the problem that we have, the problem is not with the sunlight, the problem is the agitation between the two political parties", he said.

Advising the EC on how to improve the electoral process, Mr. Casely-Hayford asked that the EC employs a system which facilitates digital voting.

"You put your ID card in it, it identifies you, you select who you want to vote for, you close off, you’ve finished", he advised.