By Rachel Kakraba
The Electoral Commission will from the 20th to 27th of August 2024 hold a voters exhibition exercise.
The exercise which will take place in about 40,000 polling centers will offer registrants an opportunity to check their particulars and make amendments where necessary. The exercise will also for the first time display the Special Voting Register for applicants who applied for special voting to also check their details.
Director of Training Electoral Commission, Dr. Serebuor Quaicoo, who disclosed this encouraged the public, especially those who have applied for special voting to take advantage of the opportunity to check their details to prevent last minute surprises.
“As a media person who has applied for the special voting you have to go to where the special voting will take place and check on your particulars and do the necessary amendments. If you have not applied then unfortunately you are out, you cannot be part of the special voting”.
Dr. Serebour Quaicoo, was addressing journalists during a hybrid event dubbed the Accountability Platform of the GJA as part of activities of the Journalists for Peaceful Discourse Project.
The Journalists for Peaceful Discourse Project which is a 10-Month GJA/US Embassy Election 2024 project, sought to promote peaceful journalistic media platforms ahead of Election 2024. The Accountability platform was to solicit the feedback of beneficiaries and stakeholders as well as discuss other matters arising and emerging issues relating to the December elections.
The Director of Electoral Services, Dr. Serebour Quaicoo, stated that once special voting is applied and the name is put on the list, such names are taken off the main voters register. He added that if the opportunity to vote in the special voting is missed the person cannot vote on December 7th because the name will not be on the register.
“If you don’t vote on the 2nd of December, you can never vote on the 7th of December because your name will not be on the register”.
In outlining some other crucial steps the Commission will be undertaking, in a lead up to election 2024, he said the EC will carry out mop up registration from the 1st to 3rd of August 2024. This he said will allow people who turned 18 years after the Limited Registration in May and those who could not register, an opportunity to do so.
Dr. Quaicoo, said the EC will in September, open for nomination to allow aspirants to file and contest in the December polls.
“It should be noted that as of now, nobody is a candidate. You become a Candidate only when you have filed your nomination, and that will be done in the second week of September.
He said printing will follow and for the purposes of transparency political parties and the security services are involved keenly in the processes.
He said there are a lot of security features on the ballot papers, to guarantee the safety of the ballot.
The Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA, Mrs. Linda Asante Adjei, welcomed participants on behalf of the GJA President, Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, to the all-important meeting. She said the meeting is to solicit feedback from the field after the training and also to discuss emerging issues.
She was especially happy that the Director of Training of the EC, Dr. Serebuor Quaicoo, was able to be a part of the meeting and to address some of the issues that came up during the regional training as far as the EC was concerned. This she said is necessary as it is a way of solidifying gains the training programme achieved with the media’s role in peaceful election.
She said for an incident free and fair election the role of the media has to be defined in the whole electoral process to report adequately so that ultimately success could be achieved.
The Acting Public Diplomacy Counselor, US Embassy Ghana, Laneice Brooker, expressed appreciation to Executives of the GJA for the successful implementation of the Journalists for Peaceful Discourse project. She noted the ten-month project, which is in its last stages, has enhanced the capacity of online editors, producers, and talk show hosts who are contributing positively towards a free, fair and credible election in December.
She said the US Embassy Ghana partners with other institutions to offer similar training that targets other segments of the population in the media space to offer capacity building initiatives to combat myths and disinformation, and also encourage voter participation during the 2024 elections.
She said through targeted interventions, the US Embassy Ghana seeks to bolster the integrity of media coverage to ensure a fair and informed democratic exercise.
“Promoting democracy, good governance, and respect for human rights is at the center of our foreign policy. As we approach the 2024 elections in Ghana, your role as journalists becomes increasingly crucial”.
She said relevant platforms must be created for constructive dialogue, which amplifies diverse perspectives and fosters a culture of respect and tolerance.
The Lead, Project Management Unit of the GJA, Madam Rebecca Ekpe, underscored the critical role the meeting plays, stating it was a Monitoring and Evaluation component of the Journalists for Peaceful Discourse Project.
She acknowledged the US Embassy Ghana, for the support in training journalists across the country.
Madam Rebecca Ekpe disclosed that a Learning/Closeout Conference would be held where the GJA will share information from the project with Election stakeholders in Ghana, in a bid of contributing to free, fair and equitable electoral processes in Ghana.
