EC To Change December 7 Election Date, But..... – Asare Bossman
The Electoral Commission (EC) has revealed that the proposal to change the election date from December 7 to November 7 will be effective but not in this electioneering year.
Dr. Eric Asare Bossman, the Deputy EC Chairman in charge of Corporate Services noted that the legislation required for the change in date to be implemented will be laid before Parliament as soon as possible for possible consideration.
Dr. Bossman said, "So within the last few months, this is something the commission is going to trigger.”
Earlier in the year, the EC proposed the date change, along with considerations for designating the election days as national holidays.
These proposals were presented during the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Monday, January 22, 2024 in Accra.
According to the electoral commission, declaring the Election Day as holiday will increase the Electoral College and will promote a robust democracy culture.
However, a section of Ghanaians, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), opposed the idea stating that the timing is not appropriate, thus, the likelihood of the change of date resulting in utter confusion will be high.
The NDC explained further that, it will be prudent for the electoral commission to have change made against the election in 2028.
Deputy EC Chairman, Dr. Asare Bossman, while clarifying the matter on JoyNews stated that the move is not expected to be implemented during this year’s polls.
He said, “That was agreed with the political parties that in the event we cannot marshal the forces of IPAC to have it in November in 2020, the commission should take steps to ensure that in 2028, we are going to have it in November.”
The Deputy EC Chairman further explained that the new date will be a selected day in November, and not November 7 as widely speculated.
"This must be clear, we were not talking about November 7. At the IPAC meeting, the decision was a day in November. So it can be the first Monday, a second Monday, a third Monday or Tuesday or Friday or Thursday.
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