We’ll not countenance elimination of indelible ink from electoral process – Ato Forson

The Minority Leader, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, says the Minority in Parliament will resist any attempts by the electoral management body, the Electoral Commission (EC), to cancel the use of indelible ink from the 2024 polls.

The EC announced plans to scrap the ink, traditionally applied to voters’ fingers to prevent multiple voting, in favour of more “modern” verification methods.

The EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, announced that, in the district-level election and subsequent polls, there would be no need for indelible ink as part of efforts to improve the electoral process.

The NDC and other stakeholders have kicked against this decision by the EC.

However, speaking on the floor of Parliament after the resumption of MPs to the house, on February 6, 2014, Dr. Ato Forson said, “Mr. Speaker, we will not countenance the elimination of indelible ink from the electoral process. We will not! Read my lips, we will not! Touch wood, we will not.”

The Minority Leader argued that the use of indelible ink during elections has been proven to be time-tested for identifying persons who have cast their vote, adding that it would be wrong on the EC’s part to eliminate it.

“The truth of the matter is that the use of indelible ink in our electoral process does no harm to the conduct of free and fair elections in Ghana. In fact, indelible ink adds another layer to the integrity of elections by ensuring that voters are visibly, transparently, and physically verified in addition to biometric verification.

Indelible ink has not only become a feature of our elections in the Fourth Republic, but it is also a time-tested method of easily identifying persons who have already cast their ballot and therefore helps to prevent multiple voting.”