According to George Amoh, the Executive Secretary of the National Peace Council, a lack of trust in the institution is the reason behind some Ghanaians’ opposition to the Electoral Commission’s proposal to do away with the use of indelible ink in the general elections of 2024.
He asserts that gaining the public’s trust will guarantee the EC their unwavering support and collaboration.
“I don’t think that approaching elections has to cause us to have a problem with the state’s institutions. No, if everyone believes in the system, why should that be the case? There won’t be any problems with thumbprinting or other similar issues.
But the reason is that we lack trust, and I believe this is an opportunity for us to try to bridge the gap. At the press conference to launch Denmark’s support for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13 and 16, he said, “So please let us do that.”
The EC declared on December 18, 2023, that indelible ink would not be required for elections in 2024 or later.
EC chair Jean Mensa said at a press conference that this was one of the steps the Commission was taking to strengthen the electoral process and guarantee a reliable identification system.
Then, the Minority in Parliament claimed that by choosing not to use indelible ink for public elections, the EC was violating the 1992 Constitution.
The opposition NDC, meanwhile, claims that if indelible ink is removed from Ghanaian elections at this point, it will invite unscrupulous behavior that will jeopardize the fairness of the process.
National Chairman Johnson Aseidu Nketia responded to the news at a press conference held at the NDC headquarters, saying, “The NDC strongly opposes the removal of indelible ink because it is visibly, transparent, and physically verifies voters in addition to biometric verification.”
To deter and stop voters from casting multiple votes, especially in cases of apathy, indelible ink marks and identify voters. He asked, “Why do away with a multi-layered, tried-and-true verification system that gives Ghana’s electoral process additional credibility?”
Mr. Johnson explained that “in the event of a malfunction of the BVD, if a voter attempts to vote twice or more, the surest and quickest way to identify such a person is the stain of indelible ink on the person’s finger.”
