Education on the Number 8 and the Umbrella should go deep down

It is election season again when Prophets give their prophecies, people gather at joints, and the atmosphere in the country is charged in support of one candidate or the other. Everybody is involved in the elections and when certain things are not brought to our attention, we might run a good race but lose the prize because of some minor oversights.

The NDC’s candidate is John Dramani Mahama and he is number 8. Dr. Hassan Ayariga of the All People’s Congress (APC) is number 9 on the ballot. When you look on the ballot paper, both John Mahama and Dr. Ayariga are wearing white shirt and the faces look alike. I am bringing this up because of spoiled ballots, first time voters, and those in the villages.

The education at the villages and for vulnerable people should be different from the education in the cities. There should be hands-on training especially in the villages to avoid spoiled ballots. During the education and training, more emphasis should go to identifying the Umbrella for the NDC. This is important because people will use the positions to vote for the Presidential but will use the Umbrella for the Parliamentary.

Voters should be able to quickly see the position of the Umbrella, to avoid voting for somebody. Spoiled ballots are not easily associated with candidates on top or bottom. Our candidate is in the middle, so much training and education must go to how to thump-print, how to clean the ink and how to fold the ballot paper. This emphasis must go to first time voters, the villagers and the uneducated.

Even though the position of the candidate on the ballot paper does not mean he/she will win, but it helps with easy education and it minimizes spoiled ballot papers for the candidate. This was why during the balloting for the positions, the NPP rigged to get number 1. I am still wondering why the NDC guys there allowed the NPP to do what they did without a challenge. We all saw how the NPP managed to swap balls to get number 1 but we didn’t see any NDC challenge.

What arrangement was made for the NPP to be the first to submit their application form and therefore the first to pick a ball? Rigging elections is not an event. It is a process. Let’s not sit there whilst the NPP uses the process, to rig the elections. We can’t go to court.

If the NPP cannot be in the minority in parliament for just two months, then NDC should know that the NPP in the minority for four years will be a nightmare for them. They will do everything under the sun to rig the elections. If Nana Addo and his likeness idiots have said they will not hand power to John Mahama and the NDC, we should not underestimate that statement, no matter how senseless it is.

Vote for Number 8, and Vote for the Umbrella.

Aba no, Mahama afa
Lawrence Appiah-Osei