Apply indelible ink at the last stage of voting-NCCE

Ho, Dec. 11, GNA - The Volta Regional Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) has suggested to the Electoral Commission (EC) to shift the application of indelible ink from the first stage of the voting process to the last stage in order to minimize the incidence of rejected ballots. It also called for more voter education to get the electorate to master the technique of voting in order to minimize the incidence of rejected ballots.

These suggestions were made by officials of the EC in interviews with the Ghana News Agency. Mr Fidelis Attor, Regional Director of NCCE, said the 27,000 rejected ballots were unprecedented. That, he said, constituted a significant loss of votes which could have made a lot of difference. On the outcome of Sunday's election, he said it reflected the will and power of the people in determining how they would like the country to be governed, a healthy democratic development. He said had Sunday's election result stood as the final outcome, there would have been a balance of power between the executive and the legislature and deepen co-operation in governance. Ms. Modesta Sapati, the Deputy Regional Director of NCCE, said the issue as to whether the NCCE or the EC was responsible for voter education should be settled in order that voter education was carried out effectively.

She said more financial resources were available to the EC than the NCCE to do such education but the EC lacked the manpower and time to do so. Ms Sapati said on the other hand the NCCE has the manpower to carry out such education but lacked the financial resources. She said under the circumstances a leeway should be found for the EC to cede some of its financial resources and materials to the NCCE to carry out intense voter education.