By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The NDC Minority Caucus in Parliament has warned the Electoral Commission to drop any proposal to move the general day from December to November as Leader of the Caucus in a statement said, “will not support any such change at this time”.
He said as the general elections on the horizon, the Electoral Commission and those behind it have announced their intention to change the date for this year’s general election from December to November as he pointed out that, “let me say it here and now that the NDC Minority Caucus in Parliament will not support any such change at this time”.
He submitted that this is because “there are more pertinent and pressing issues that require the immediate attention of the Electoral Commission than a change of date for general elections. As I speak, the Electoral Commission is yet to release its calendar for the 2024 elections. The EC must focus all its energy and attention on the provision of the 2024 election calendar”.
In a statement to welcome members of Parliament Back to The Fourth Session of The Eighth Parliament of The Fourth Republic on Tuesday, 6th February 2024, The Minority Leader, Hon. Cassiel Ato Forson accused the Commission for failing to embark on what he called a comprehensive and meaningful reforms after the 2024 elections, in consultation with political parties and other interest groups including faith-based organizations.
On the issue of indelible ink, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson said his side will not countenance the elimination of indelible ink from the electoral process, “we will not! Read my lips, we will not! touch wood, we will not!”
He mentioned that the EC claims that doing away with indelible ink in Ghana’s electoral process forms part of its measures to improve the electoral process and ensure a robust identification system but “the truth of the matter is that the use of indelible ink in our electoral process does no harm to the conduct of free and fair elections in Ghana”.
“In fact, indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections by ensuring that voters are visibly, transparently, and physically verified in addition to biometric verification,” He added.
According to him, indelible ink has not only become a feature of our elections in the Fourth Republic, but it is also a time-tested method of easily identifying persons who have already cast their ballot and therefore helps to easily prevent multiple voting.
