Political parties have been advised to educate their party agents on proxy voting ahead of the December 7 general election to avoid possible chaos.
The Head of Research and Programmes at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana, Dr. Franklin Oduro stated that failure to train these agents could impede the electioneering process.
He blamed misunderstanding at the various polling stations in the previous elections on poor education.
“If the political parties are not educating their agents, then it is about time the parties embark on such exercise on proxy voting and transferring of votes” he stressed.
Dr. Oduro gave the advice in an interview on Wednesday.
The Electoral Commission (EC) has begun a 40-day exercise to accept application for proxy voting during general elections on December 7.
A statement signed by its Head of Communications, Eric Kofi Dzakpasu said the exercise, which started on Wednesday, August 17, and would end on Monday, September 26, would enable an eligible voter to delegate someone to vote on his or her behalf when he or she is unable to be present during the presidential and parliamentary polls.
The process would ensure that when a voter assigns a proxy, that individual’s data is retrieved, reviewed and verified for the proxy to vote, after which the proxy would go to his own polling station to cast his own individual vote.
Dr Oduro said parties’ representatives on the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) should share their knowledge on numerous meetings with the EC to their agents.
He however said he was impressed by the commitment and readiness of the EC, security agencies and other stakeholders for the December 7 elections.
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