Ghana Electoral System The Need For Electoral Reforms To Enhance Parliamentary Seats Allocation -Redistricting Of Constituencies
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center a Ghanaian based organization who is into social science research democracy rule of law and poverty alleviation would like to share an insight on Ghana electoral system the need for enhanced and modern electoral reforms in distribution of parliamentary seats,since independent they have been several electoral reforms regarding parliamentary seats composition to that of the main democratic process but for the purposes of this piece we would be looking at the need to consider advanced and modern ways of allocation of parliamentary seats rather than the always increasing the number of seats as our populations grows hence the need we look into other ways which would enable us demarcate our parliamentary seats without not necessary adding new seats even when the population of Ghana keeps on increasing of which mostly the bases of increasing or creating new constituencies
Our study would focus on electoral system of Ghana, Electoral reforms of Ghana and other countries of interested to the subject matter for that matter our study would be modeled or centered on the United State Redistricting of its constituencies model , the population and population density of Ghana and its relation to the the number of constituencies or seat of the the Fourth republican constitution of Ghana (1992 -2025)
The rational behind this piece is that why the is always increase of number of constituencies or parliamentary seats only in relation to population growth but that doesn’t conform with the current population numbers in relation to the current number of seats from 1993 to date.
Kudus Research and Advocacy Center begins with the Electoral system of Ghana: Ghana elects on national level a head of state, the president, and a legislature. The president is elected for a four-year term by the people. According to the constitution, each President can be elected for only two (four-year) terms after which they are no longer eligible to run for Presidency. The Parliament of Ghana has 276 members, elected for a four-year term in single-seat constituencies. Unlike the Presidency, parliamentarians are eligible to run for as many terms as possible so long as they are of sound mind.
The presidential election is won by having more than 50% of valid votes cast,whilst the parliamentary elections is won by simple majority, and, as is predicted by Duverger's law, the voting system has encouraged Ghanaian politics into a two-party system, creating extreme difficulty for anybody attempting to achieve electoral success under any banner other than those of the two dominant parties. Elections have been held every four years since 1992.
Presidential and parliamentary elections are held alongside each other, generally on 7th December every four years.To qualify as a Presidential candidate, the person is required to be Ghanaian citizens by birth, be at least 40 years old, and must be of sound mind. Again, the person must either be nominated by a political party or stand as independent candidate, provided the necessary requirements are met, including a full payment of presidential filing fees. Presidential campaigns typically span several months to years leading up to Election Day. Candidates are allowed to engage in rallies, debates, and media appearances to communicate their vision and developmental policies or manifestos for the country and garner support from voters. Ghanaian citizens aged 18 and above are eligible to vote in presidential elections.
Ghana is divided into constituencies, each represented by a Member of Parliament (MP). Similar to the Presidential elections, each political party presents a list of candidates for each constituency, and voters cast their ballots. Non-aligned or independent candidates are equally eligible to stand for parliamentary elections. Candidates' filing fees for parliamentary elections is always lower compared to the presidential filing fees.
The Presidential and Parliamentary elections are organized, conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana(EC), the official body responsible for public elections and referendums in Ghana. The Commission, headed by the Electoral Commissioner, operates independently and has the mandated by the constitution to ensure the integrity and transparency of the electoral process. The EC also superintendents over nationwide voter registration, candidate nomination, ballot printing, polling station setup, collation, tabulation and announcement of election results.
After knowing the Electoral system of Ghana Kudus Research and Advocacy center looked into Electoral Reforms:Electoral reform is a broad term use to describe changes aimed at improving the responsiveness of the electoral process to public desire and expectations They can be legal or administrative in nature or political which takes place in political environment.They are many electoral reforms items that the Electoral commission of Ghana have dealt with which can be categorized into : Recommendations adapted and implemented fully, Reforms partially implemented,Reforms yet to be implemented, Recommendations outside the ambit of the commission according to their official website
Electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results.Reforms can include changes to:Voting systems, such as the adoption of proportional representation, single transferable voting, a two-round system (runoff voting), instant-runoff voting (alternative voting, ranked-choice voting, or preferential voting), instant round robin voting (called condorcet voting), range voting, approval voting, citizen initiatives, referendums, and recall elections,Vote-counting procedures,Rules about political parties, typically changes to election laws,Eligibility to vote (including widening of the vote, enfranchisement and extension of suffrage to those of certain age, gender or race/ethnicity previously excluded),How candidates and political parties are able to stand (nomination rules) and how they are able to get their names onto ballots (ballot access),Electoral constituencies and election district borders, which can include consideration of multiple-member districts as opposed to single-member districts,Ballot design and voting equipment, Scrutineering (election monitoring by candidates, political parties, etc.),Safety of voters and election workers,Measures against bribery, coercion, and conflicts of interest,Financing of candidates' and referendum campaigns, Factors which affect the rate of voter participation (voter turnout),Electoral reforms can contribute to democratic backsliding or may be advances toward wider and deeper democracy.
The International Standards Organization has started to formulate norms with regards to conducting elections of an acceptable quality ISO/TS 54001 is the quality management system with particular requirements for the application of ISO 9001:2015 for electoral organizations at all levels of government. In less democratic countries, dissidents often demand the holding of elections. Therefore, the most basic electoral-reform project in such countries is to achieve a transfer of power to a democratically elected government with a minimum of bloodshed, e.g. in South Africa in 1994. Such power transfers can be complex, and such projects tend to require changes to national or other constitutions to alter the balance of powers. Electoral reforms are often politically painful. Previously ruling authorities sometimes postpone reforms and elections as long as possible but, by doing so, risk social unrest, rebellion, political violence and civil war
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center looked into Reforms by selected countries that can complement our efforts to unravel which countries reforms can help and looking at the electoral system of Ghana which is a mixture of Westminster and a presidential system hence we used Germany and the UK whose electoral system are of parliamentary or Westminster Prime Minister in nature and that of the United State of America presidential in nature
We start with Germany In 1953 the federal state electoral threshold was replaced with a national electoral threshold, reducing party fragmentation. In 1972 the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. In 1987, the seat allocation method was switched from the D'Hondt method to largest remainder method and was switched again in 2009, to Webster/Sainte-Laguë method, due to concerns of lower proportionality for small parties.The 2013 the compensation mechanism was adjusted to reduce the negative vote weight in compensating between federal states. In 2023, the German Parliament adopted a federal electoral law reform which replaced the flexible number of seats with a fixed size of 630 seats and removed the provision which allowed parties which won at least 3 single-member seats to be exempt from the 5 percent electoral threshold.
Also with the United Kingdom has generally used first-past-the-post (FPTP) for many years, but historically many constituencies elected two MPs, and other systems were used to elect a few of its parliament's members. Its last multi-member district at the national level was disbanded in 1948. Most members in the multi-member district were elected through block voting. Limited voting was used to elect some of its members starting in 1867. The passage of the Great Reform Bill of 1832 made the electoral system fairer by eliminating many of the rotten boroughs and burgage tenements that were represented by two members while having very few voters, and by allocating more seats to districts in relatively newer factory towns and cities.
In the 2010 general election campaign, the possibility of a hung parliament and the earlier expenses scandal pushed electoral reform up the agenda, something long supported by the Liberal Democrats. There were protests in favour of electoral reform organized by Take Back Parliament.The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government held a referendum on introducing AV for the Commons on 5 May 2011, which, despite commitments to review the voting system for "fair vote reforms" in the Conservative manifesto.
The 2015 general election was expected to deliver a hung parliament. However, the Conservative Party won a narrow majority, winning 51 percent of the seats on 37 percent of the national vote, but the Green Party, UKIP and the Liberal Democrats were under-represented and the Scottish National Party over-represented in the results compared to a proportional system. As a result, both during the campaign and after, there were various calls for electoral reform.Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP, declared support for AV+.Baron O'Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary from 2005 to 2011, argued that FPTP is not fit for purpose given the move towards multi-party politics seen in the country.Journalist Jeremy Paxman also supported a move away from FPTP.
In 2016, it was reported that in a conversation with a Labour peer in 1997, the Queen had expressed her opposition to changing the voting system to proportional representation.
In 2021 home secretary Priti Patel proposed replacing the supplementary vote method used in some elections in England and Wales with FPTP. The posts affected were the Mayor of London, elected mayors in nine combined authorities in England, and police and crime commissioners in England and Wales.In the Queen's Speech of May that year, the Government proposed the introduction of compulsory Photo ID for voters in England and in UK-wide elections.These measures were implemented with the Elections Act 2022.
In Wales, the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024 changed the electoral system for the Senedd from additional member using the D'Hondt method to proportional representation using closed lists.
The UK Labour government elected in July 2024 has a manifesto commitment to restrict donations to political parties and reduce the minimum voting age from 18 to 16.In December 2024, Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Olney introduced the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill to the Commons under the ten minute rule, where it passed its first reading. The second reading of the bill is scheduled for 29 May 2026
Kudus Research and Advocacy Center looked into the Democratic Nature of Ghanaian Society : Ghana’s Fourth Republic was created in 1993. Democratically elected governments have alternated with military regimes through the country’s recent history. In 1992,under internal and external pressure, Jerry Rawlings,who had twice seized power in military coups, initiated a democratic transformation of the military government he had headed for ten years. The new Constitution, developed by a group of experts, was adopted in a referendum, and political parties, previously banned, were(re)founded.In 1992, the first presidential and parliamentary elections were held. Even though the opposition, accusing Rawlings of fraud in the presidential election, boycotted the parliamentary election, the present democratic system was established in the Fourth Republic.
The Ghanaian population now has a highly developed consciousness of and a certain pride in the advances in democracy it has achieved. In fact, five elections have been held in the Fourth Republic, and five times the official outcome was implemented, with new governments being duly formed, including two democratic changes of government. This would seem to indicate that the democratic system has been consolidated to such an extent that those in power no longer seek to exploit their power, by unconstitutional means, to extend their term of office beyond the two terms provided for under the Constitution with a view to remaining in power, choosing instead to bow to the will of the electorate.By and large, the Constitution is honored by large parts of the political class, who regard it as their paramount point of reference. The Constitution enjoys a large measure of respect and its articles are generally regarded as the foundation of the country’s democratic order.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center looked into Election Legislation and Acceptance of Election Result in Ghana: Ghana has a comprehensive set of electoral laws that meet international standards and are, in principle, accepted by all parties. Ghana’s first-past-the-post electoral system, with the extensive powers it accords to the president, is perhaps best termed a winner takes all system. The losers are largely excluded from the political decision-making process, even when they,as the NPP did in the wake of the 2008 elections, account for a large number of Members of Parliament.The fact that, to date, every electoral outcome has been accepted and implemented in a democratic fashion is a strong indicator of Ghana’s democratic consolidation.This is not to imply, however, that the democratic process has become irreversible, or that there were not, in past elections, dynamics in play that served to diminish acceptance of the outcome. In addition, the population continues to harbour – despite a widespread commitment to democracy – a large measure of mistrust vis-à-vis official politics. Many people are convinced that manipulation of elections, vote buying and political pressure are part and parcel of the system and that all those involved, especially the two main parties, are complicit.Up to a point, this is generally accepted – although it is difficult to say in advance at what point people will draw the line and the losers prove unwilling to put up with an outcome that may be the product of chicanery.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center also looked into the Checks and Balances: Ghana’s political system is a mixture of Westminster and a presidential system, with the office of the president endowed with far-reaching powers and the executive playing a dominant role vis-à-vis the legislative. Under the Constitution, Members of Parliament are not permitted to submit bills or amendments that have financial implications. Parliament does not even make full use of the scope it does have – for reasons of exaggerated party discipline, lack of understanding of substantive issues or because Members of Parliament of the governing party may be holding out for a government post.By regional comparison, Ghana’s judicial system is relatively well developed, although even the judiciary is not wholly free of political influence and bribery. In addition, trials and legal procedures tend to be long drawn out, and those concerned often feel that justice is not being done. In connection with the 1996 elections, one NPP parliamentary candidate mounted a legal challenge to the outcome in his election district; the court recognized his claim, even though the NPP was at that time in opposition – but the procedure took a total of four years,and the final judgment was handed down only at the end of the current Parliament
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center looked into the Political Parties in Ghana : Ghana’s party landscape is dominated by the NDC on one side and the NPP on the other. Both parties emphasize their programmatic orientation: the NPP terms itself liberal, while the NDC sees itself as social democratic.In the course of an election campaign that was only marginally issue centred, however, the two parties made little effort to clearly explain what they stood for and what they intended to do. Both parties are in need of an intensive internal debate to define their programmatic and ideological stances.Ghana’s smaller parties are utterly marginal as aside the two major parties NDC NPP no other political party have representative in the 9th parliament except independent candidates
The main objective of political parties in Ghana is to work to gain individual and collective power. While the parties’ contribution to the shaping of national public opinion remains limited, they have continuously expanded their role as pure election campaign machines.The more the parties have been forced to rely on a network of supporters to gain power, the louder the calls for intra-party democratic procedures have become.Party primaries turned out to be a major problem for the NPP: in some cases, even experienced Members of Parliament, key figures in the party, failed to win. Several business people spent large amounts of money running in the primaries for parliamentary candidates, clearly expecting significant returns on their investment if they won.
In the absence of state funding for political parties, election campaigns in Ghana are financed by individuals.Ignoring central party coffers, private donors tend to contribute to individuals, from whom they expect favors if the election is won. This is one important reason why the elected party leadership, often itself dependent on external donors, has little influence over how election campaigns are conducted. This serves not only to undercut internal party democracy, but also corrupt the political system as a whole: even before they assume power, the parties are beholden to forces other than the people who actually voted for them.This highly money-driven class of politics also makes it difficult for women to participate in politics since, besides the strong gender discrimination, they generally lack the financial resources available to men.
Kudus Research and Advocacy Center in our quest to unravel the rational behind the need for Ghana electoral system modernized in-terms of number of seats or Constituencies of its parliament, Ghana population and its population density were looked into starting from 1992 to date : Ghana's total population grew from approximately 16.3 million in 1992 to an estimated 35.4 million in 2025. Key figures show steady growth, with populations reported at around 33.1 million in 2022 and over 34.4 million in 2024, according to Worldometer and Trading Economics.Ghana population In 1992 is was Approximately 16.3 million, in 2022 it was about 33.1 million to 2023 it was 33.8 - 34.1 million 2024 approximately 34.4 million and finally in 2025 Estimate Around 35.0 - 35.4 million. Which means that Ghana population have been more than double since 1992 to2025 hence the need population should be considered a key indicator in determination of constituency or Parliamentary seats allocation of the parliament of Ghana
Ghana's population density is approximately 154 people per square kilometer (or 399 people per square mile) as of 2025. This figure has been increasing in recent years, with estimates from 2021 and 2022 showing densities of around 143-146 people per square kilometer. 2025 Estimate: About 154 people/km².The density has grown from approximately 140 people/km² in 2020 to about 146 people/km² in 2022.
World Comparison: Ghana's population density is lower than the global average of around 456 people per square kilometer. Regional Differences: Population density is not uniform across Ghana, with the Greater Accra Region being the most densely populated area due to high numbers of structures and people. The most densely populated areas also include the coastal regions and the Ashanti region. Urbanization: Around 58.58% of Ghana's population is urban, and this trend contributes to regional population density differences.
Ghana's population density has consistently risen from the 1990s to 2025, increasing from approximately 63 people per square kilometer in 1990 to an estimated 154 people per square kilometer in 2025, reflecting high birth rates and ongoing urbanization. Key points show a density of 86 per sq km in 2000, over 100 by 2006, 144 in 2021, and an estimated 148 in 2023.
Population Density Trends in 1990s: Population density was around 63 people per square kilometer in 1990 and rose to 86 people per square kilometer by 2000. Also in the 2000s: The density surpassed 100 people per square kilometer by 2006. And that of the 2020s: Density reached 144 people per square kilometer in 2021, 146 in 2022, and an estimated 148 in 2023. Finally Estimated 2025 Density :The estimated population density for Ghana in 2025 is approximately 154 people per square kilometer, according to Worldometer.
Factors Contributing to the Increase are :High Birth Rates: A consistent driver of population growth. Urbanization: A significant factor, with a large proportion of the population migrating to cities like Accra and Kumasi. Population Growth: The overall population has grown steadily over the decades, naturally leading to increased density.
Ghana population density for 2022 was 145.69, a 1.94% increase from 2021.
Ghana population density for 2021 was 142.92, a 1.98% increase from 2020.
Ghana population density for 2020 was 140.15, a 2.01% increase from 2019.
Ghana population density for 2019 was 137.38, a 2.03% increase from 2018.
Meaning from the above the if indeed Ghana's population density has consistently risen from the 1990s to 2025, increasing from approximately 63 people per square kilometer in 1990 to an estimated 154 people per square kilometer in 2025, reflecting high birth rates and ongoing urbanization, that’s almost triple from 1992 figure to that of 2025 but still the number of constituencies doesn’t necessarily reflects to that the population density of 1992 to that of 2025 where in 1992 a population density of about 63 people per square kilometer with 200 parliamentary seats or constituencies and now in 2025 population density of about 154 people per square kilometer 275 constituencies or parliamentary, now high numbers still living within the same area, that would obviously hinder development social and other economic benefits intended for the constituencies hence the need to look into redistricting Ghana parliamentary seats rather than increasing its numbers because Ghana population is a such a way that Urbanization: A significant factor, with a large proportion of the population migrating to cities like Accra and Kumasi. Population Growth: The overall population has grown steadily over the decades, naturally leading to increased density. Regional Differences: Population density is not uniform across Ghana, with the Greater Accra Region being the most densely populated area due to high numbers of structures and people. The most densely populated areas also include the coastal regions and the Ashanti region. Urbanization: Around 58.58% of Ghana's population is urban, and this trend contributes to regional population density differences. Hence the need it should be factored in redistricting process when realized that the population of the people in a given specific area doesn’t tally with its area either over or under populated
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center also looked into Parliament of the Fourth Republic in terms seats composition from 1992 to date : After 11 years of military rule, a new constitution was approved in a 1992 referendum. Presidential elections were held in November and were won by Jerry Rawlings, leader of the 1981 coup and subsequent military ruler. The opposition contested the results and boycotted the December parliamentary elections. As a result, Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 189 out of 200 seats in Parliament.All parties participated in the 1996 parliamentary elections. The NDC won 133 out of a total of 200 seats, while the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 60. Two smaller political party groups won the remaining seats.
The 2000 elections were significant in the sense that, President Rawlings was constitutionally barred from seeking another term. In the presidential poll, John Kufuor of the NPP defeated the NDC candidate John Atta Mills in a run-off election. In the 200-seat Parliament, the NPP won 100, followed by the NDC's 92. Smaller political party groups and independent candidates won the remaining seats. Kufuor was re-elected in 2004 and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) won 128 out of 230 seats in the concurrent parliamentary election. The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) won 94, while two other parties - The People's National Convention (PNC) and Convention People's Party (CPP) - won 4 and 3 seats respectively. Independent candidates captured the remaining seat.The simple majority (or First Past the Post) voting system is used in Ghana's parliamentary elections. Since 2012, the country is divided into 275 single-member constituencies. Members serve four-year not our interest in this piece.
In the current Fourth Republic, the number of MPs first increased to 200 and subsequently to 275. There have been 9 parliaments so far in the Fourth Republic.The list of its members are the 1st parliament: 1993-1997 made up of about 200 seats,2nd parliament: 1997-2001 also made of 200 seats,3rd parliament: 2001-2005 made up of about 230 seats also the 4th parliament: 2005-2009 made up of about 230 seats, the 5th parliament: 2009 - 2013 have about 230 seats as well, and from the 6th parliament: 2013 - 2017, the 7th parliament: 2017 - 2021, the 8th parliament: 2021-2025 all made up of about 275 seats and finally 9th parliament 2025 - present made of bout 275/6 seats due creation of the additional new eight regions our out most interest in this piece why since 1992 they have been only an increment of only 75 or 76 constituencies or parliamentary seats but looking at the population Ghana's total population grew from approximately 16.3 million in 1992 to an estimated 35.4 million in 2025 almost doubled but the parliamentary seats have not doubled since then not even up to half of its original number and the population keeps growing, also Ghana's population density has consistently risen from the 1990s to 2025, increasing from approximately 63 people per square kilometer in 1990 to an estimated 154 people per square kilometer in 2025 hence areas allocated or aside as constituencies would now be having more people than its land size or some constituencies would be having more land area than its population hence the need a modern and advanced ways of parliamentary seats or constituencies allocation adapted that’s instead of creating new constituencies we rather maintain a stand parliamentary seats numbers and Redistrict based on the population and land area of the region and the constituencies which leads us to the next important sub topic to look into
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center looked into Redistricting using that of the United State model for the most advanced democratic and constitutional rule practicing country Ghana can only look into theirs and learn as Ghana also the beacon of democracy and constitutional rule in Africa again should dictate the pace : In the United States, redistricting is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.The U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 provides for apportionment of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on the population of each state. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 required that the number of seats in the chamber be kept at a constant 435, and a 1941 act made the reapportionment among the states by population automatic after every decennial census.Reapportionment occurs at the federal level followed by redistricting at the state level. According to Colegrove v. Green, 328 U.S. 549 (1946), Article I, Section 4 left to the legislature of each state the authority to establish congressional districts; however, such decisions are subject to judicial review. In most states redistricting is subject to political maneuvering, but some states have created independent commissions.
The Uniform Congressional District Act (enacted in 1967) requires that representatives be elected from single-member districts. When a state has a single representative, that district will be state-wide.Gerrymandering in the redistricting process has been a problem since the early days of the republic.In recent years, critics have argued that redistricting has been used to neutralize minority voting power.Supporters say it enhances electoral competitiveness
Allocation of districts following the 2020 census.
Six states have a single representative in the United States House of Representatives, because of their low populations. These are Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. These states do not need redistricting for the House and elect members on a state-wide at-large basis.In 25 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to approval by the state governor.To reduce the role that legislative politics might play, thirteen states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington) determine congressional redistricting by an independent or bipartisan redistricting commission. Five states: Maine, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont,and Virginia give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting plans, but preserve the role of legislatures to approve them. Arkansas has a commission composed of its governor, attorney general, and secretary of state.
By law, the forty-four states with more than one representative must redistrict after each decennial census to account for population shifts within the state as well as (when necessary) to add or remove congressional districts. Federal law (including the Constitution) does not prevent states from redistricting at any time between censuses, up to and including redistricting prior to each congressional election, provided such redistricting conforms to various federal laws.However, "mid-decade" redistricting proposals (such as what occurred in 2003 in Texas) have typically been highly controversial. Because of this, many states prohibit mid-decade redistricting, although this is more prevalent for state legislative redistricting than for congressional redistricting. Some also link it to a specific year or to the decennial census. It is unclear to what extent mid-decade redistricting would be legal in those states.
The legality of mid-decade state-legislative redistricting in the United States
Apart from mid-decade redistricting initiated by state legislatures (as happened in Texas), both federal and state courts can also order the redistricting of certain maps between-censuses (because said maps were ruled unconstitutional or against federal law, for example). Examples of this are the redistricting that occurred between the 2016 and 2018 elections in Pennsylvania or the redistricting that occurred in North Carolina.State constitutions and laws also mandate which body has responsibility over drawing the state legislature boundaries.In addition, those municipal governments that are elected on a district basis (as opposed to an at-large basis) also redistrict.
Redistricting criteria
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 did not state any size and population requirements for congressional districts, last stated in the Apportionment Act of 1911, since the 1911 Act was still in force. However, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1911 Act was no longer in force even though Congress never repealed it. The previous apportionment acts required districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated.Each state can set its own standards for congressional and legislative districts.In addition to equalizing the population of districts and complying with federal requirements, criteria may include attempting to create compact, contiguous districts, trying to keep political units and communities within a single district, and avoiding the drawing of boundaries for purposes of partisan advantage or incumbent protection. Redistricting may follow other criteria depending on state and local laws: compactness, contiguity,equal population,preservation of existing political communities,partisan fairness,racial fairness,Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering in the United States
Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district boundaries to achieve political advantage for legislators, involves the manipulation of district boundaries to leave out, or include, specific populations in a particular district to ensure a legislator's reelection or to advantage their party.
In states where the legislature (or another body where a partisan majority is possible) is in charge of redistricting, the possibility of gerrymandering (the deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral advantage, usually of incumbents or a specific political party) often makes the process very politically contentious, especially when the majorities of the two houses of the legislature, or the legislature and the governor, are from different parties
Partisan domination of state legislatures and improved technology to design contiguous districts that pack opponents into as few districts as possible have led to district maps which are skewed towards one party. Consequently, many states including Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin have succeeded in reducing or effectively eliminating competition for most House seats in those states.Some states, including New Jersey and New York, protect incumbents of both parties, reducing the number of competitive districts.
The state and federal court systems are often involved in resolving disputes over congressional and legislative redistricting when gridlock prevents redistricting in a timely manner. In addition, those disadvantaged by a proposed redistricting plan may challenge it in state and federal courts. Justice Department approval (which is known as pre-clearance) was formerly required under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in certain states that have had a history of racial barriers to voting. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Pennsylvania redistricting effectively allows elected officials to select their constituents by eliminating most of the grounds for constituents to challenge district lines.
Other redistricting reforms in the United States
In addition to the establishments of redistricting commissions in multiple states, proposals have been fielded to draft interstate compacts between states on congressional redistricting. These have been proposed in the legislatures of Maryland and Illinois since the 2010s in order to reduce redistricting-related litigation, prevent partisan "arms races" over reapportionment and partisan gerrymandering, and reduce perceptions of nonpartisan redistricting as unilateral disarmament.To date, no such compacts have been approved by legislature or referendum.
Kudus Research and Advocacy Center also looked into numerous court case that have bedeviled the smooth operations of the Redistricting process in the United States, the U.S. Supreme Court redistricting cases includes : Colegrove v. Green (1946),Baker v. Carr (1962) - federal courts may review redistricting of state legislative districts,Gray v. Sanders (1963) - 14th Amendment's equal protection clause requires “one person, one vote” standard,Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) - legislative districts for the U.S. House of Representatives must be composed, to the extent practicable, of equal numbers of eligible voters,Burns v. Richardson (1966),Reynolds v. Sims (1964),Gaffney v. Cummings (1973),Karcher v. Daggett (1983),Thornburg v. Gingles (1986),Davis v. Bandemer (1986),Growe v. Emison (1993),Voinovich v. Quilter (1993),Shaw v. Reno (1993),Johnson v. DeGrandy (1994),Miller v. Johnson (1995),Bush v. Vera (1996),Hunt v. Cromartie (1999),Vieth v. Jubelirer (2004),League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry (2006),Bartlett v. Strickland (2009),Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (2015),Gill v. Whitford (2018),Benisek v. Lamone (2018 & 2019),Rucho v. Common Cause (2019),Allen v. Milligan (2023),Alexander v. South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP (2023)
As the redistricting commissions of states are often partisan, districts are often drawn which benefit incumbents. An increasing trend has been for incumbents to have an overwhelming advantage in House elections, and since the 1994 election, an unusually low number of seats has changed hands in each election.Due to gerrymandering, fewer than 10% of all House seats are contested in each election cycle. Over 90% of House members are reelected every two years, due to lack of electoral competition. Gerrymandering of the House, combined with the general deficiencies of the first-past-the-post voting system, and divisions inherent in the design of the Senate and of the Electoral College, result in a discrepancy between the percentage of popular support for various political parties and the actual level of the parties' representation. In particular, gerrymandering has been found to benefit the Republican Party more than it does the Democratic Party
In the United States, all states with multiple congressional districts are required to revise their district maps following each decennial census to account for population changes. In 2026, most states will use the same districts created in the redistricting cycle following the 2020 census, which were first used in the 2022 elections. However, maps have changed or would change in several states, often due to legal challenges made based on partisan or racial gerrymandering
Like wise in Ghana we we use the regions which is also further divided to District Municipality and Metropolis to that of constituencies our interest, we would be considering each of the sixteen regions the number of constituencies they have in relations to their population and total voters registered using the same principle that the United States is using in their redistricting process, that’s using the population and houses census conducted by the Ghana Statistical services figures of the most current on that’s the 2020 figures highly densely constituencies and less densely constituencies in each region redistricted or redrawn.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center from the above model of the United States of America of which we are hoping Ghana to adapt rather than always increasing the number of parliamentary or constituencies seats. Redistricting is basically the re-demarcating or assigning of territorial boundaries to a constituency base on their population and land mass areas, Ghana as a country is one constituent of which the returning officer is the Chair person of the Electoral Commission and must be treated as such during Redistricting also all regions and their constituencies should be mandated by the state authorities in redrawn their constituency maps based on their populations as the populations of Ghana for that matter the regions and the constituencies keeps growing not only in numbers but also in land mass areas in terms of expanded developments of social economic structures and activities like houses schools markets among other hence the need to balance the population numbers in relation to land of which the population have shifted or moved to.
Kudus Research and Advocacy looked into the major stakeholder involvement that can make this process a success, the government the current administration for that matter the President and his administration the Ghana Statistical services, Land Commission of Ghana the Ghana Population Council Political Parties Policy framers and makers the Parliament of Ghana King Chiefs and community members and leadership, most importantly headed by the Electoral Commission of Ghana
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center noted that in Ghana quest to adapt the Redistricting of its constituencies rather than increasing its seats whenever they is population increase, they would be serious challenges ranging from redrawing process to acceptability of the demarcations legal challenges in courts partisan coloration in its redrawing process among others but it would only take courage and perseverance for it to be achieved
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center also noted that another challenge that the Ghanaian quest to adapt the Redistricting of its constituencies rather than increasing the number seats any time the is population changes is Gerrymandering, the practice of drawing district boundaries to achieve political advantage for legislators, involves the manipulation of district boundaries to leave out, or include, specific populations in a particular district to ensure a legislator's reelection or to advantage their party.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center also noted that a challenge like political willingness of the party in power or the government of the day to take a bold decision to start it but when its started as many electoral reforms would be easy to implement in subsequent years, the current party National Democratic Congress NDC and its president John D Mahama both have the parliamentary numbers if a vote of such bills is laid before parliament for voting or approval and his government acceptability by the Ghanaian people, its only the political willingness by President Mahama and his administration to proceed with its implementation as the New Patriotic Party NPP and its President Nana Addo Daquah Akuffo - Addo did in creation of additional eight new regions and now its part of our geographical land demarcations.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center recommends that the needed authorities should be constituted that’s should comprise of the Ghana Statistical Service, Ghana Lands Commission , Population Council of Ghana, Electoral commission of Ghana, Parliament of Ghana,the community leadership chiefs , the media and the people living in those geographical areas, as already the Electoral Commission of Ghana is the legal body responsible for such but the should be complemented in that regards
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center recommends that a technical committee should be constituted to study Ghana population density highly concentrated areas in relation to total voter registration in every region and constituencies to that land areas of the said regions and constituencies based on the population and house census figures of Ghana in 2020. for redistricting should only be done only if a census is conducted, which is done very ten years, and also extreme case of exponential population growth especially prior to election years of which census yet to conducted
Kudus Research and Advocacy Center recommends that after the technical team study then Electoral commission of Ghana should make the most current voter registration and its polling station allocations available for redistricting where based on which that the constituencies would be redrawn, not only expanding or reducing specific consistencies based on their population density and total voter registration in that area but the re allocation of voters and polling stations to constituencies based on the new boundaries of the constituencies
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center recommends that legal team should be consisted a law and an authority created backed by the constitution of Ghana that would be mandated to be sole responsible for redistricting and redrawing of parliamentary or consistencies seats after every national census conducted operating under the auspices of the Electoral C omission of Ghana.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center recommends that an agreed number of parliamentary seats or constituencies should be agreed it could be the current number of 275/6 constituencies a reduced or an increased number, then before the redistricting law passed of which no new constituency can be created or would be made difficult for it to be easily changed constitutionally. As in the case of the US the congressional House have a about 435 seats and Senate have 100 seats which never changes but its boundaries always redrawn based on the outcome of the nation census figures and each states laws.
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center recommends that external expertise of how redistricting and drawing of constituencies maps be solicited most especially that of the United State of America of whose Ghana is hoping to emulate, others like that of the United Kingdom Germany Canada among other advanced democracies also can be consulted that can make the Ghanaian own robust resilient and can be able to withstand all forms of political shocks irrespective of regime change as the current political dispensation of the Ghanaian system where political party always smoothly transfers power from one party to another irrespective
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center also noted that when this Redistricting is able to be implemented smoothly it would be able to help resolved the purpose of the constituencies creation that is to resolved and petition the basic developmental needs of the constituent to the national level in hope of them also getting the fair share of the national cake hence the need highly dense constituencies redistricted with the others if the is huge or marginal changes in population figures geographical expansion among other factors of Redistricting process
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center noted that the Redistricting would also help check sector demands of new constituencies creation for them for lack of developmental projects and true representation of them especially tribal clan or even religious groupings as every census conducted afterwards base on the population and other factors would determine the constituent boundaries which would be proportionally allocated
Kudus Research And Advocacy Center in Conclusion would say that indeed it would be better for Ghana political system to adapt the Redistricting or Redrawing of its Constituencies or Parliamentary seats in case of population change and other factors rather increasing or creation of new constituencies . We also acknowledged the use of Kathrin Meissner “Elections And Conflict In Ghana” , The Electoral Commission of Ghana, Federal Electoral Commission of the United State Germany UK Canada among others via their official websites in making this piece of work
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Yussif Abdul Kudus
Founder & Executive director
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