All is set for the general elections tomorrow (Saturday,December 7, 2024) as the necessary electoral materials have been distributed to the regions, the Electoral Commission has stated.

The materials including stamp pads, stamp print pads, ballot papers, ballot boxes, Digital Versatile Discs(DVDs), projectors, desktop computers, have all been distributed in adequate quantities. Printing of sensitive materials, including voters' registers and ballot papers, have all been distributed to the various regional police agencies.

The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa made this known in Accra on Thursday, December 5,2024 at the last in a series of press conferences to update the public on preparations towards peaceful elections on Saturday, which is the ninth to be held since the country's return to Constitutional rule in 1992.

In attendance were the Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr. Bossman Asare and the Deputy Chairman of Operations, Mr Samuel Tettey. Also Present were a 10-member delegation from Uganda's Electoral Commission led by its Deputy Chairperson, Hajjat Aisha Basajjanaku Lubega. A 13-member team from the European Centre for Electoral Support and Association of African Election Authorities led by its Founder and Executive Director, Fabio Bargiacchi were also in attendance.

Mrs Mensa explained that with the exception of the Western and Eastern Regions where it is addressing an incident of defaced ballot papers which poses a major risk to the integrity of the ballots, the EC “does not envisage any shortages anywhere in the country on election day.”

High turn out

The Chairperson further revealed that the EC is expecting a high turn out during the general elections on Saturday just the same way it recorded the lowest turn out of 83 per cent at some polling stations in the Special voting on Monday December 2, in the 14 regions that took part in the exercise.

Flashback

She said the Commission started the year poised and ready to deliver transparent, fair, credible and peaceful elections and electoral processes. 

“We were mindful of the fact that peaceful elections and electoral processes were dependent on our actions before, during and after the election. And so we set out at the start of the year ready to deliver our best, credible, peaceful, transparent, glorious and acceptable elections and electoral processes.” Mrs Mensa added.

She explained that the EC was aware of its mandate to invest in the various electoral processes which was critical in ensuring the peaceful and acceptable outcomes that the nation so desired.

“Right from the start of our electoral calendar, we imbibed three essential ingredients into all our activities, namely transparency, inclusiveness and responsiveness. These three elements became the hallmark and the benchmark of everything we did” she explained.

The EC Chairperson observed that the Commission heightened transparency by providing the citizenry with infographs detailing the number of persons who were registered across the country on any given day. 

Those processes she observed, enabled citizens to know with mere precision the number of persons who had registered across the country and allowed them to drill down to indicators such as male-female voters, number of persons with disabilities who had registered and first-time voters who had registered on any given day among others.

“Additionally, we provided our key stakeholders, the political parties, with start-of-the-day reports and end-of-the-day reports, which provided the details of the number of persons who had registered across the country on any given day. This enabled any interested political party to collate on a daily basis the persons who had been registered across the country” she said.

The Chairperson indicated that throughout the process of registration, the EC applied the element of responsiveness and used its “letter-citizen law platforms to address the concerns of the citizenry and answer their questions.”

“This level of transparency and responsiveness employed by the Commission helped to minimise the tensions and suspicions that usually characterise voter registration exercises. In fulfillment of our mandate as enshrined in law, we proceeded to exhibit the Provisional Voters Register in all 40,000 plus exhibition centres across the country” she added.

She stated that the EC exhibited the Provisional Voters Register online, making it easy for any interested citizen to check their details with a click of a button, and in the comfort of their homes, at an initial fee of 50 pesewas per publication.

In the spirit of responsiveness, she said when concerns were raised about the fees charged, the Commission waived this fee, enabling citizens to check their details at no cost. 

Online verification

She announced that the online verification system is still active, and voters can check their details until Saturday,December 7 2024. 

“In the same spirit of transparency and responsiveness, we re-exhibited the Provisional Voters Register when concerns were raised about its validity.This process allowed both political parties and voters to review and verify their details a second time” she stressed.

That effort by the EC she explained resulted in the affirmation of the 2024 Voters Register as “credible and robust.” 

“In fulfillment of the law, we provided the final Voters Register to political parties within three days of its certification by the Commission. Indeed, the law requires us to provide the final Certified Voters Register to political parties within 21 days of certifying the register. I am pleased to note that we fulfilled this in three days” Mrs Mensa pointed out.

International standards 

The EC Chairperson observed that all the processes introduced has enabled the EC to meet “international and global standards for voter registration.”  

She said the nomination and balloting processes were also brought to the doorstep of citizens through the media practice as citizens were enlightened about how the positions of candidates on the ballot papers were arrived at.

“Again, this level of transparency helped to eliminate the suspicions and unusual stories about the Commission placing the ballot and placing their preferred candidates in specific places. What the opening up of our processes helped to do was to build trust and confidence in the Commission and its work” she emphasised.