Political parties express concern about verification,voter ID cards

Seven Political Parties on Tuesday said some voters may never get the opportunity to vote in Election 2012 because not all can access the verification process and called for guarantees and strategies to enhance the credibility of the elections.

According to them voting on December 7, will commence at 7.00 am and end at 5.00 pm, which involves 600 minutes while a voter was expected to spend about two minutes on the verification process and going by that calculation, only 300 voters were likely to go through the verification process within the period.

In that process, they said polling station that had between 600 to 1000 registered voters were likely to disfranchise voters which could impede the electoral process and cause confusion.

The political parties; National Democratic Congress (NDC), New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP), Progressive People’s Party (PPP), People National Convention (PNC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and the United Front Party (UFP) as well as an Independent Candidate contesting Election 2012, raised these concerns at a one day forum organised for the Presidential Candidates and the leadership of the various political parties and other actors in the election process in Accra.

The EC in collaboration with KAB Governance Consult with sponsorship from Department for International Development (DFID) organised the forum to identify and resolve challenges associated with the electoral system to enhance the credibility of Ghana’s 2012 elections.

They also appealed to the Electoral Commission (EC) to as a matter of urgency ensure that particulars of all bearers of the voter identity cards were captured in the commission’s database in order not to disfranchise anybody.

The parties pledged their commitment to play by the electoral laws to complement the efforts of the EC in conducting peaceful elections for Ghana to enable it achieve its democratic objectives.

Some of the party leaders appealed to the security agencies to ensure clean and transparent election devoid of any acrimony while urging the officials of the EC to remain professional on the election’s day.

They advocated for the regular interaction between the EC and political parties at the inter-party dialogue forums to address all challenges involving the electoral processes to enhance transparency and credible elections.

Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan, Chairman of the EC, reminded leaders of political parties that the EC was committed to conducting successful election for Ghana and had met with  executives of the various political parties in the regions  and also brought some of them down to Accra to visit the EC’s offices to see things for themselves.

He said all those efforts were meant to build the integrity of the EC in the minds of the people and expel doubts and misconceptions on the electoral process.

Dr. Gyan said Ghana has the right to credible elections and that desire must not turn to be disappointment, explaining that the EC and other stakeholders have at stake a herculean task to conduct transparent and clean elections.

The EC wishes to promise Ghana transparent elections with no favour to any political party and pleaded for peaceful electioneering campaigns to sustain the prevailing peace to enable the people to elect a president and parliamentary candidates of their choice to govern them.

Madam Sally Taylor, Country Director, Department for International Development (DFID) of United Kingdom, praised Ghana’s democratic credentials saying Ghana had performed creditably and that relevant institutions had worked assiduously to enhance democracy in the country.

She, however, appealed to the media to work closely with political parties and the judiciary to promote peaceful election while urging political parties and their supporters to conduct civil campaigns.

The DFID, she said, would continue to support Ghana in its quest to promote the democracy in the sub-region.

Source: GNA