The Electoral Commission (EC) says it will conduct a separate balloting for presidential candidates in the December 7 polls although a balloting for parliamentary aspirants has been carried out.
This is likely to confuse voters who may want to vote purely according to ballot positions or numbers of their preferred candidates.
The norm over previous elections was that the EC would conduct one balloting for presidential aspirants and based on that parliamentary candidates are also placed on the ballot paper according to their flag bearer’s position.
But due to recent legal tussles against the EC over the disqualification of some presidential aspirants, the EC has gone ahead to organize the balloting for parliamentary aspirants which has placed the NDC at number 3 and the NPP at number 5.
Addressing the media after the exercise deputy chairpersons at the EC, madam Georgina Opoku Amankwa said the ballot positions for the parliamentary aspirants would be different from that of the presidential candidates
“The circumstances we find ourselves in towards the 2016 elections is not anything ordinary. As we sit here, we are inundated with court processes with regard to the presidential slot so there is no way we can go ahead and ballot for the presidential.
“That is why the commission met and took a decision that the parliamentary contest which involves a lot of people do not have anything untoward by way of legal issues. So what we are doing here today is only affecting the parliamentary process.”
She further indicated that “when we are done with all the legal suits concerning the presidential slot, then we will come back for the parties involved to also ballot so definitely there can be a change. A party getting 1 in the parliamentary will get a totally different number for the presidential.”
The Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the Peoples National Convention (PNC) have all filed cases in court against the Electoral Commission over the disqualification of the presidential candidates.
An Accra High Court on October 20 adjourned the PPP’s case to the 25th of October, 2016. The date for the Presidential balloting would be announced by the EC after all the legal banters are resolved.
By Martin Asiedu-Dartey|3news.com|Ghana
Twitter: @3newsgh