Don’t abandon indelible ink for December polls – Majority Leader tells EC

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has called on the Electoral Commission to reconsider its decision to discard the use of indelible ink in the upcoming 2024 general elections.

The Electoral Commission has suggested abandoning the use of indelible ink in the December polls, a proposal strongly opposed by the Minority caucus in Parliament.

Additionally, the caucus has expressed its disapproval of the EC’s proposal to change the election date from December 7 to November 7.

Aligning with the Minority’s stance, the Majority Leader highlighted concerns about the potential misuse of the electoral process if indelible ink is not used.

He pointed out that without indelible ink, individuals might vote in one region and then move to another to vote, exploiting the lack of synchronization in the election management body’s database.

“The database of the electoral commission as far as some of us do know doesn’t talk to one another, the database of the regions talk to themselves, so you cannot vote in Suame and then run to Offinso North to vote, you would be caught because there it is synchronised but they don’t go beyond the regions.

“So it is possible for one person to vote in Accra and dash to Bole to cast their vote. So to the fact that the database is not talking to themselves, it is important that we further guarantee any abuse of the system to resort to the use of the indelible ink. So we are appealing to the EC to reintroduce it.”