NPP Issues ‘One Man, One Vote’ Directive

NPP Issues ‘One Man, One Vote’ Directive

…Bans Ministers, CEOs, Other Appointees From Serving As Polling Agents

The Presidential Election Committee of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has announced guidelines for the party’s upcoming Special Electoral College election, slated for Saturday, August 26, for a smooth, transparent and fair process.

Per the guidelines, each delegate is entitled to just a vote for a single presidential aspirant, as part of the measures to ensure that there is no double voting, ballot stuffing and other electoral malpractices on the election day.

“Every delegate shall be entitled for one vote and must cast their vote for a single aspirant of their choice,” the party said.

Additionally, the party said presidential aspirants will not be allowed to appoint ministers, CEOs, MMDCEs or any active government official or delegate listed to vote to serve as polling agents.

“No aspirants will appoint active government officials or any delegate listed to vote in the presidential election as agents (whether Special Electoral College or the Main Election). For the purpose of clarity, such officials include, but are not limited to, MMDCEs, Ministers, CEOs of state-owned enterprises, Regional Executives, Constituency Executives,” it stressed.

This was contained in a statement issued yesterday, July 31, and signed by the secretary of the Presidential Election Committee of the party, William Yamoah.

They are also expected to cast their vote secretly, without any delegate taking a photo of how they voted, the party said.

It added: “The electoral commission should enforce and adhere to restricting delegates from taking their phones to the ballot booth.”

The announcement comes on the back of calls by some aspirants asking the party to conduct the election in a free, fair and transparent manner.

They had called for fairness at every stage of the way so that all the 10 aspirants are satisfied with the process.

In June, this year, the Alan Kyerematen Campaign and another aspirant, Boakye Agyarko, separately demanded for total fairness in the process to elect the party’s presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.

While filing for his nomination at the party’s Asylum Down headquarters in Accra, monitored by The Anchor, the former Energy Minister served notice that the election will be peaceful “for as long as there is fairness.”

He also said the rules of engagement must be clearly spelt out to all the parties involved in the election.

Agyarko further said, “This is an internal family thing, so long as the rules are clear, so long as there is total fairness, and so long as we are all measured in our statements, I believe that we will have a peaceful election.”

According to the party, the guidelines were put together “after extensive consultations with the various stakeholders, including the Presidential Aspirants.”

It expressed the “sincere gratitude to all for your cooperation as we pursue an equitable and transparent process to elect a Presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections.”

Speaking on Asaase Radio’s flagship political and current affairs show, “The Forum,” the spokesperson for the Alan Campaign, Yaw Buaben Asamoa, said “The mischief that anybody will assume will arise from disunity or otherwise is best cured by fairness. A democracy is built on opinion and choice, so choice at the heart of democracy entitles everybody to put themselves up in the court of public opinion as long as processes are fair, nobody has a right to go against the public opinion.”

The election, which will be held simultaneously in all the 16 regional capitals and the party headquarters in Accra, will be conducted and supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC), with assistance from the Presidential Election Committee and the Police Service. All the centres for the election in each of the regions across the country are also listed in the guidelines issued yesterday, Monday July 31.

On proxy voting, the party indicated that the deadline for the submission of application will be on Wednesday August 2, 2023 at exactly 5pm, stressing that “To successfully file for a proxy, one should show proof of ABSENCE thus, evidence of travel outside the county, medical report and other documentary evidence. An affidavit must accompany every application.”

The proxy list will be published in the dailies for public information and verification purposes, it states, and warns aspirants that any attempt to submit false affidavit will lead to the person being reported to the appropriate authorities for action, adding that “Only delegates to the Electoral College shall have the right to vote by proxy.”

The party said the Electoral College album, submitted to the Electoral Commission and the presidential aspirant by the Presidential Election Committee, shall be the only register for the conduct of the election.

“To ensure utmost transparency and credibility, the Electoral Commission shall make the validated Album (voter register) available to all participating aspirants not longer than Wednesday, July 26, 2023. This provision allows one week for thorough examination and verification of the album before the Special College date,” it further explained.

The poll will start at 9am and close at 1pm at all centres, following which counting will begin.

According to the party’s election guidelines, persons whose names are not found in the album shall be disallowed to vote, and went on to say that any dispute arising from the election should be directed to the Presidential Election Committee for prompt and amicable resolution.

The guidelines also indicate that each aspirant will have two accredited agents, and that failure of an agent to sign the centre’s result, for whatever reason, will not invalidate the announcement by the presiding officer.

Below Is Published, The Full Statement:

Guidelines for NPP Presidential Elections _2023-PEC

Source: Anchorghana.com