Electoral reforms will boost Ghana’s democracy

Mr Clarke Noyoru of the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has said the 27 electoral reforms accepted by the Electoral Commission (EC) would boost the country’s democracy.

He noted that Ghana had had many elections, each coming with its own challenges, and therefore reforms were necessary to consolidate the gains made.     

Mr Noyoru, who was speaking at a consultative forum in Ho on electoral reforms, said a major reform was the changing of election date from December7 to November 7 to make room for adequate preparations for run-offs and transition.

The Volta Regional forum organized by the LRC in partnership with the Law and Development Associate (LADA) attracted traditional rulers and civil society organizations.

Mr Noyoru said another reform related to the raising of the minimum educational qualification requirements for various levels of election officials and improvement in their compensation package.

He said though some people called for the adoption of e-voting, there was the need to build a robust IT system and also ‘educate’ the public who had access to the facility.

Mr Noyoru said the nationwide consultations had helped to educate people on electoral offenses, which they took for granted and also demystified the existence of the ‘strong room’.

He said instead of the ‘strong room’ terminology, the setting up of a national coalition centre to tally election result and broadcast them would help build confidence in the EC.

Source: GNA