Political parties have been advised to educate their party agents on proxy voting ahead of the December 7 general elections to avoid possible chaos.
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 parties are not [educating their agents], then it’s about time the parties embark on such exercise on proxy voting and transferring of votes” he stressed.
Dr. Franklin Oduro was speaking Wednesday on Adom FM’s current affairs programme, “Burning Issues” that discussed the ongoing process to accept application for proxy voting.
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 Wednesday August 17 and ends on September 26, 2016 will enable an eligible voter to delegate someone to vote on his/her behalf when he/she is unable to be present during the Presidential and Parliamentary polls.
The CI75-backed process will 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.
Speaking on Burning Issues, Dr Oduro said parties’ representatives on the Inter Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) must share their knowledge on numerous meetings with the EC to their agents.
He 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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