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25.06.2016 Politics

Electorate educated on thumb-printing and folding of ballots

By GNA
Electorate educated on thumb-printing and folding of ballots
25.06.2016 LISTEN

By Afedzi Abdullah, GNA
Cape Coast, June 25, GNA - Coastal Television, a community-based television station in Cape Coast, in collaboration with STAR Ghana, has embarked on roadshows to educate the electorate in the Central Region on how to handle ballot papers properly.

The aim is to help reduce the number of rejected and spoilt ballots during the November 7 Presidential and Parliamentary.

The roadshow, which presented a 20-minutes movie dubbed: 'A Vote For Me,' directed by Mr Gerald Addai, was also aimed at educating the public on the roles and responsibilities of a Member of Parliament (MP).

The movie featured four different political parties' and their candidates, depicted real life situations on how politicians could do effective campaigns and make promises devoid of violence and disturbances.

Mrs Gifty Nyomi, Chief Executive Officer, of Coastal Television at one of its roadshows in Cape Coast said the exercise was geared towards complementing the efforts of the Electoral Commission (EC) and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to educate the electorate on how to cast their votes without having them nullified.

She explained that the initiative was based on three main objectives which include, ensuring reduction in spoilt ballots, maintaining peace before, during and after the elections and also to educate people to have the basic understanding of the implications of voting for a particular candidate.

She said the movie had been showcased in the Abura Asebu Kwamankese, Mfantsiman, Cape Coast North and South, Twifo Hemang Lower Denkyira and Komenda Edina Eguafo Abrem Districts of the Central Region.

She said it would be showcased in all the constituencies in the Region before the polls in November and urged the public to patronise the movie.

She urged stakeholders in the general election, such as political party leaders, the Police, EC, NCCE and the media to play their roles effectively to ensure peaceful elections.

Mrs Edith Howard, a senior civil education officer at NCCE in Cape Coast advised candidates contesting in the elections to use part of their campaign period to educate the electorate on voting procedures, to prevent the issue of spoilt ballot papers.

She said telling eligible voters to vote for them without demonstrating how to cast their votes on election day is not enough.

Mrs Howard said educating the electorate on voting processes is a shared responsibility between the NCCE, EC and all other stakeholders towards a successful election and encouraged all to play their roles effectively.

She said MPs are not development agents but rather law makers and a liaison to their constituencies.

She advised the citizenry to assess the manifestos of the various political parties to enable them to make informed decisions.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, some of the electorate expressed their appreciation to Coastal TV and Star-Ghana for the educative programme.

STAR Ghana is a multi-donor pooled organisation.
GNA

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