Publication of National Electoral Information on the Electoral Commission’s Website

House Number KAK 63

Kakpagyili, Tamale-Ghana

The Electoral Commission,

Republic of Ghana,

P. O. Box M. 214, Accra -Ghana

December 29, 2015

Dear Electoral Commissioner;

Publication of National Electoral Information on the Electoral Commission’s Website

I am a citizen of the republic of Ghana with the address above. I believe the electoral commission does not only serve as the backbone of Ghana’s democracy, but it is also a respected and important source of information for a wider audience within and beyond the country. The commission serves as the most authoritative source for electoral information in the country, especially the publication of electoral results. As a citizen who believes in the authenticity of information provided by the commission, I have always looked up to the commission as my primary source of information regarding elections in the country. However, I have noticed several information gaps on the official website of the commission for some time now and would like to bring this to your attention. There are gaps in the publication of electoral results of the country relating to the following electoral years;

2012: Both presidential and parliamentary election results and related statistics are missing on the commission’s website.

2008: Both presidential and parliamentary election results and related statistics are missing on the commission’s website.

2004: Only the parliamentary election results are published on the commission’s website. The presidential election results and related statistics are missing.

2000: Only the parliamentary election results are published on the commission’s website. The presidential election results and related statistics are missing.

1992: Only the presidential election results are published on the commission’s website. The parliamentary election results and related statistics are missing.

Also, summary information from the national voter register is entirely missing for any of the above election years including 1996. Whilst the commission has done a tremendous job in the past few years to improve transparency and accountability in the Ghanaian electoral processes through timely provision of vital information (including the creation of an official website), I believe it needs to do more to improve timely information delivery and accessibility to the Ghanaian public primarily.

Timely publication of national electoral information on the website of the commission is important in ensuring transparent and accountable democratic processes and the strengthening of our democracy. For instance, timely published and easily accessible national electoral results and voter registration do not only provide vital information to the public, but they also provide necessary information for teaching, learning and research to a host of users including individuals, educational institutions, research organizations and the media.

In the spirit of transparency and in the spirit of the laws governing the conduct of the electoral commission (with particular reference to section 45 (d) of CI 75) therefore, I request that the electoral commission undertake the following;

1. Update both presidential and parliamentary election results on its website for all election years beginning from 1992. Such information may be made accessible in different accessible formats such as PDF and Microsoft Excel to serve the needs of multiple users.
2. Provide summary statistics of the national voter register on its website. Such information may include number of polling stations, registered voters per polling station, age of registered voters categorized into age groups, sex of registered voters, etc. Such information can be updated as and when changes are made.

I look forward to an explanation from the commission if any of the requests above cannot be accommodated. I believe the departments of Information Technology (with primary function of providing statistical analysis of election data and perhaps managing the commission’s website) and Public Outreach (with primary function of disseminating information to the public); have complementary functions that can easily close such information gaps.

Thank you,

Hardi Shahadu

[email protected]