EC Calls For Media Support For The Conduct Of A Successful Elections
A Deputy Chairman at Ghana’s Electoral Commission [EC], Mr. Amadu Sulley has underscored the significance of the media in the conduct of successful elections and appealed to practitioners to ensure accuracy and professionalism in their publication and dissemination of timely information emanating from the EC.
Speaking at a USAID sponsored media capacity building programme on C.I 91 among other electoral issues held in the Upper East Regional capital of Bolgatanga, he disclosed that the objective was to primarily educate the media on components of the new electoral laws that direct the regulation of public elections and which came into being from the old regulation of C.I 72 with some modifications.
According to Mr. Sulley, the EC was not oblivious of the fact that in a democracy, a faulty voters’ register could spell doom for a nation and that the Commission had already submitted both electronic and hard copies of the new electoral laws to all registered political parties for their study and feedback. He added that to inject more sanity into the electoral roll, the Biometric Verification Devices [BVDs] would be deployed for the voters’ register exhibition exercise in the run up to the general elections on November 7, 2016.
The Deputy EC Chairman revealed that per the new electoral reforms, the ideal number of voters per polling station shall be 850 while there shall be a split of polling stations into “A”, “B”, “C” and so forth for easy management of the voting process. Meanwhile, the composition of the District Registration Review Committees was strategically done to include stakeholders such as traditional authorities, district directors of education and security personnel among others who could easily initiate a process to authenticate a person’s citizenship within the locality.
He also disclosed that the EC was mandated to within 21 days to the date of the elections, furnish each of the competing political parties with copies of the certified voters’ register for their study. This provision he noted, resulted from the Inter-Party Advisory Committee meeting which had inputs from representatives of all registered political parties running the race. He further disclosed that Ghana’s citizenship law had also been reviewed emphasising that, persons with dual citizenship could now register and vote in the country’s elections but could however not stand for elections to hold public office.
A Chief Reporter and award-winning correspondent with the Ghana News Agency, Mr. Samuel Adadi Akapule who delivered a statement on the contribution of the media to election success observed that the role of the media in election goes beyond its normal “watchdog role”. He said key roles the media would perform during elections would include educating voters on how to exercise their democratic rights, reporting on the development of an election campaign, providing a platform for the political parties and their candidates to communicate their messages to the electorates and providing a platform for members of the public to communicate their concerns, opinions, and needs, to the parties/candidates, the Electoral Commission, the government, and to other voters.
He said more importantly, the media would report election results and monitor vote counting as well as scrutinise the electoral process itself in order to evaluate the fairness of the process and its efficiency so that EC and other stakeholders could take immediate and prompt actions to address any shortfalls.
Mr. Akapule noted that reporting on electioneering campaigns and the elections itself posed a big challenge to the media “putting its impartiality and objectivity to the test”. He sounded a caution that “the task of the media, especially national media outlets, is not and should not be the mouthpiece for any government body or particular candidate. Its basic role is to enlighten and educate the public and act as a neutral, objective platform for the free debate of all points of view”.
He also advised his colleague practitioners to be mindful of media owners who would want to use them to promote their selfish political ideologies. He further advised practitioners against hate speech and instigative tribal utterances. He remarked, “as gatekeepers, we should be able to determine what to put out there and what not to put out there for the sake of the national interest”.