Ghana Votes

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

‘Increasing trend of rejected ballots worrying’

The increasing trend of rejected ballot votes, if not checked, could affect the outcome of elections in the country. Out of the six general elections held in the country since 1992, there had been 1,035,905 rejected votes.
This gloomy outlook was revealed at a press conference to unveil the logo of a policy think tank, the Institute of Democracy Education (IDE), Ghana,  in Ho last Friday.

The IDE, which is dedicated to accelerating democratic dispensation  and local governance for national development, has the vision of becoming a leading think-tank in the region and beyond.

Introducing the new logo to the media, Mr Harrison Kofi Belley, the Executive Director of IDE, said, for instance, the figure of 251,720 which constituted 2.29 per cent of the total votes cast in the last general elections was more than the general votes of the other six presidential candidates which was 1.56 per cent, adding that these huge figures could affect the outcome of elections in the country."

To strengthen transparency and integrity of the electoral process, and to promote civic and voter education, he said that focus must be on the trend of rejected ballot votes in general elections which was becoming a third force in the country.

He called for proper civic and voter education to produce a democratic citizenry.

He was of the view that the adoption of a liberal constitution and the conduct of elections did not mean that Ghana was a democracy while we allowed utterances to permeate our actions in the resolution of conflicts.

"We cannot, and should not, content ourselves with the adoption of a liberal constitution and the conduct of elections and conclude that we are now a democracy while we allow intolerance to permeate and control our public and public actions in the resolution of conflicts", he said.

Mr Belley noted that the IDE intended to embark on a project to enhance electoral peace and credibility in the up-coming 2014 district assemblies elections in the country based on lessons drawn from the December 2012 elections.

IDE, he said, would conduct its programmes through seminars and workshops in institutions and communities, with opinion leaders and students in the Volta Region.

The Executive Director stated that they had started running a weekly public education programme at Hope Station on 93.1 FM, a Ho-based radio station, on Tuesdays between 2.00p.m. and 3.00p.m.

Unveiling the logo and name of the IDE, Mr Kofi Tenasu Gbedemah, a civil society activist and Board Chairman of IDE, who stressed on political tolerance, advised the people to co-operate with the various stakeholders in the electoral process for peace to prevail.

He said politicians must avoid provocation or use of offensive language to enhance the political dispensation for national development.

"There is a mounting sense that a culture of intolerance and acrimony seems to be taking root at an alarming rate, adding that, "the politics of insults and personality attacks appear to be pervading our political discourse", Mr Gbedemah said.

He cautioned the people not to take the peace and stability that the country had enjoyed over the years for granted because "irresponsible conduct can undermine the status quo".

The Commanding Officer of the 66th Artillery Regiment, Lt. Col. Seidu Abbass, who spoke on improving relationship between the military and civilians, said it was the avowed interest of everybody to see that the peace in Ghana is not disturbed in anyway.

Lt. Col. Abbass cautioned the youth to eschew violence since all the state institutions were prepared to avert any disturbances or breach of the peace with the security forces on high alert to move in to crush and deal with any disturbances.

" So the youth who have explosive energy should be cautioned to resist the temptation of being lured into any negative acts, for you will have no excuse if you fail to make judicious use of your time", the Commanding Officer of the 66th Artillery Regiment said.

Source: Daily Graphic

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