{"id":703326,"date":"2019-09-11T12:02:54","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T12:02:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ghana-mma.com\/2019\/09\/11\/ec-to-cut-voting-time\/"},"modified":"2019-09-11T12:02:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-11T12:02:54","slug":"ec-to-cut-voting-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/11\/ec-to-cut-voting-time\/","title":{"rendered":"EC To Cut Voting Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

EC Boss Jean Mensa<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Electoral
\nCommission (EC) is planning to reduce voting duration by an hour and will table
\nthe issue for discussion with the political parties and all stakeholders in the
\ncoming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a security
\nmeasure, the commission will discuss the idea of reducing the voting duration
\nfrom 7:00am to 4:00pm to allow for the counting and collation of results well
\nbefore dark,\u201d Jean Mensa, Chairperson of the EC, announced in Accra yesterday.<\/p>\n

Tension & Suspicion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sharing Ghana\u2019s experiences
\nand good practices on the prevention and mitigation of election-related
\nviolence during the opening of a three-day ECOWAS-UN workshop, the EC boss said
\nthe security measures when implemented \u201cmay lead to the early declaration of
\nthe results and help to reduce the tension and suspicions that manifest during
\nthe waiting period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a commission,
\nwe are not only keen to ensure a peaceful and conducive voting environment, but
\nwe are keen to guarantee the security of the ballot and make every vote count.
\nIn this regard, one of the issues that has occupied our minds is the duration
\nof voting,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cCurrently, voters have between 7:00 am and 5:00pm
\nto cast their votes.\u201d<\/p>\n

She indicated
\nthat \u201cthe practice in the past is that voters wait until the last hour before
\nthey cast their votes. This results in long queues well after the voting ends
\nat 5:00pm resulting in the counting and collation of votes going well into the
\nnight.This has posed and continues to pose grave danger in that it compromises
\nsecurity of the ballot and the safety of our electoral officers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early Security Meetings<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Mensa said
\nthat the EC has already \u201cstarted early engagement with our security agencies at
\nthe highest level,\u201d adding, \u201cWe have met with the leadership of the Ghana
\nPolice Service and our discussion has centred on strengthening security at the
\npolling stations ahead of election 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are planning
\nregular meetings with them and the purpose really is to tighten the loophole
\nand to adopt a common strategy well ahead of the election,\u201d she revealed.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Mensa added,
\n\u201cWe believe that with this strategy, we would each be prepared and we would
\nhave a good understanding of the strategies that we have outlined not only at
\nthe national level but seeping all the way to the regional and district
\nlevels.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believed that
\nsuch security measures \u201cwould also help to prevent violence,\u201d adding \u201cthere
\nwill be regular updates of some of the flashpoint areas that are prone to
\nviolence and it would enable us to take early action before the election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electoral Reform Committee<\/strong><\/p>\n

The EC boss pointed
\nout that the EC has established an Electoral Reform Committee which has been
\ntasked to undertake an audit of the laws, as well as systems and processes and
\nproposed recommendations for reform and implementation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese reforms
\nare geared towards enhancing the credibility and integrity of our electoral
\nprocess and election security is a key area that the committee is focusing on,\u201d
\nshe explained.<\/p>\n

Ayawaso Cue<\/strong><\/p>\n

She hinted that
\nthe EC had taken an early cue from the incident during the Ayawaso West Wuogon
\nby-election where there was violence on January 31, adding, \u201cWe have initiated
\na number of activities aimed at tightening security and eliminating violence
\nahead of our general election in 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the key
\ninitiatives is the institutionalization of the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
\nWe have, since assuming office, instituted monthly IPAC meetings. These
\nmeetings provide a regular platform for dialogue and create an avenue for the
\ncommission and political parties to brainstorm and build consensus on issues
\nrelating to elections. This platform has been an important trust and confidence
\nbuilding mechanism and we are witnessing the results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shaky Start<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe had a somewhat shaky start, she admitted, adding,
\n\u201cBut due to persistent and consistent dialogue, relations between the EC and
\npolitical parties have significantly improved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur continuous
\nengagement with the political parties has helped to promote transparency and
\naccountability around our activities as well.It is important to emphasise that
\nwe will continue to engage our political parties throughout the political cycle
\nright from the onset with the registration. We engage them we discuss the date
\nwe provide them with timely notice which is 21 days to allow them to prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Close Collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n

She said further
\nthat \u201cwhen it comes to the exhibition of the voters\u2019 register we also work
\nclosely with them. When it comes to the printing of ballots, we invite their
\nrepresentatives to the various printing houses. When it comes to even the
\ndistribution of the ballot to the various regions and districts, cars are
\nusually accompanied by representatives of the political parties,\u201d adding, \u201cOf
\ncourse, when it comes to even the appointment of temporary officers, we provide
\nthe political parties with the dairies or the details and contacts and
\nphotographs of these officers to enable them to scrutinize them to ensure that
\nthey are not card-bearing members of any political party and of course on
\nelection day they are heavily involved in the activities of that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe have no doubt therefore that the IPAC platform and the dialogue approaches we have adopted\u00a0 would help reduce tension and suspicion around our elections and hopefully help eliminate violence altogether in the lead up to the 2020 election,\u201d Mrs. Mensa stated.<\/p>\n

By Issah Mohammed<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EC Boss Jean Mensa The Electoral Commission (EC) is planning to reduce voting duration by an hour and will table the issue for discussion with the political parties and all stakeholders in the coming weeks. \u201cAs a security measure, the commission will discuss the idea of reducing the voting duration from 7:00am to 4:00pm to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":702629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-703326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nEC To Cut Voting Time - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/09\/11\/ec-to-cut-voting-time\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"EC To Cut Voting Time - 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