The specimen of the proposed ballot papers
Martin Adane, a resident of Suma Ahenkro, near Sampa and former Member of Parliament (MP) for Jaman in the Brong Ahafo region, has proposed the redesigning of the ballot papers to reduce the high rate of rejected ballots during general elections in Ghana.
He said the proposal, if adopted, would ensure a drastic reduction in the number of rejected ballots by about 80 percent or more.
In a document copied to DAILY GUIDE, Mr. Adane called on all stakeholders to dispassionately examine his proposal, and if found suitable, the necessary amendments to the existing legislation must be forwarded to Parliament by the Electoral Commission (EC) for the appropriate action to be taken.
He proposed that the ballot papers should be designed horizontally with the photographs of the candidates and their party symbols as well as the space for finger printing beneath instead of the usual vertical arrangement.
The new arrangement would ensure that each candidate has the space for finger printing directly below his or her photograph and symbol to make it easy for identification and thumb-printing.
The former MP, who contested on the ticket of the Popular Front Party (PFP) between 1979 and 1981, noted that the nation has made very little or no progress at all in reducing rejected ballots in elections that have been held since the inception of the Fourth Republican Constitution in 1992.
?Efforts, if any, aimed at reducing the rejected ballots appears to have ignored how the ballot papers are designed and how voting is done,? he said.
?We have copied what is done in some countries without due regard to the background of majority of Ghanaian voters. Of course nothing should inhibit us from starting something that other jurisdictions may find suitable and adopt in future.?
He disclosed that in the 2012 general elections for instance, rejected ballots placed third ahead of all the other presidential candidates except the two dominant parties, the NDC and NPP.
Out of the total votes of 11,246,982 in the 2012 elections, valid votes were 10,995,262 while rejected ballots were 251,720 which exceeded votes obtained by all six presidential candidates.
The all six presidential candidates had a total vote of 171,605 as against 251,720 for rejected/spoilt ballots.
?The rejected ballots were significant to have influenced who could have been declared a winner, or could have better the performance of the other smaller political parties,? he pointed out.
The former MP also wants a change from the use of the thumb-print in voting to the use of the index finger in voting in subsequent elections in Ghana to reduce spoilt ballots.
It is a fact that no matter the background of a person, thumb-printing a document in whatever form is difficult and may require some assistance. Pointing at something with the thumb is to say the least very clumsy.
?The natural way for pointing at something is to use the index finger or forefinger. The index finger on both hands is easier to use in pointing at something than the thumb and it is so easy to make forefinger print without any assistance.
?In the same way that thumb-prints of individuals differ from one another, index finger prints differ from one person to another.?
FROM Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani
