District Assembly Election

(State of the election and matters arising)

The district election is here again and ongoing, eligible Ghanaians are still in the act of casting their votes at their various polling stations but unfortunately as the same old story, this election like all others is faced with both old and new challenges alike. Is true is no news, this election is not the first of its kind to face with challenges. But the purpose of this article is to make known some of the challenges which the district assembly election faces that might affect the quality of the election. Also the purpose of this article is not to point accusing fingers or to victimize any institution or individual for something done or not done neither is it of no personal interest but an act of patriotism.

0n the 29th of December 2010, I went round some of the polling stations (Asokwa West District, Kumasi) and what I realized that there has been a general low turnout of voters as compared the previous elections held; the polling station with the highest turn out recorded had a figure relatively far from half of the number of voters who were supposed to cast their vote. Wanting to have a clue about the cause of this situation, I conducted a random interview which reviewed that apart from some of those who refused to vote did so with the excuse of the changing time schedule and they wanting to attending to their private businesses, a majority of those who refused to vote gave the excuse of they not knowing the significance of casting their vote as a due to series of disappointments they have experience from pervious Assemblymen others mostly the ladies also expressed discontentment about the ink used for identification during the election which stains their finger nails. This situation severs as alibi that education on election on the grass root level is not intense enough and for that matter be intensified to enlighten Ghanaians on the harm be done to the development of their areas if they decide not to vote since the few who vote does so to favor those they are affiliated to, who might not be the competent person to spearhead the development of the area. I would also want to use this medium to humbly request on behalf of the people to the electoral commissioner if he can change the mode of identifying one who has casted his or her vote (the polling assistants in most polling stations I visited had trouble with voters who did not want the finger dipped in the ink which they did not want stains from)

Also, another problem faced was the transfer of voters to polling stations of areas of which they are not residence of; there were instances where some polling agents reported of voters they knew personal who had left their area for one to two years ago, and others who were known not to be residents of the area, but had managed to vote. Though these instances had elements of truth nothing could be done since these voters in question had their names in the voters register, to curb this situation thorough investigations as well as follow ups should be made about transfers made by voters when the register is opened before the elections are held.

Lastly, one major problem faced by the elderly voters and young voters with poor eye sign is the “black and white” nature of the pictures of aspirants; there were several instances when elderly voters despite the fact that they cannot identify the candidate they wanted to vote for from the “black and white” pictures ask of assistance from polling assistants by asking of the native name of their desired candidates(which is different from what is on the sheet and for that matter new to the polling assistants) deeming it necessary that this information is asked from the polling agents present hence making their vote publicly known instead of being secrete . This situation can be curbed by making a special sheet for elderly voters.

In conclusion, I would like to use this medium to plead to the Electoral Commissioner and the entire members of the electoral commission to take up and solve the above challenges and several others which has reached the honorable commission through other media in order to make election exercises in general better off each and every election season.

The author Dominic Osei Boakye is in the the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Department of Economics . Email romeoston@yahoo.com.au