December 7 election date will be changed but not this year – EC

The Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that its proposal to move the date for general elections from December 7 to November may not take effect this year.

According to the Deputy EC Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, Eric Asare Bossman, the legislation required for this change to be implemented will be put before Parliament soon.

“So within the last few months, this is something the commission is going to trigger,” Dr Bossman said on JoyNews.

In January, the Commission proposed the date change, along with considerations for designating the election days as national holidays.

These proposals were presented during the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Monday, January 22, 2024.

Advocating for an earlier election month, the Commission emphasised that declaring election days as national holidays could increase civic engagement and contribute to the cultivation of a more robust democratic culture.

However, a section of Ghanaians, including the National Democratic Congress (NDC), opposed this idea.

They explained that it does not align with the consensus reached that any major electoral reforms should take effect from November 2028.

Deputy EC Chairman, Dr Asare Bossman, while clarifying the matter on JoyNews stated that the move is not expected to be implemented during this year’s polls.

“That was agreed with the political parties that in the event we cannot marshal the forces of IPAC to have it in November in 2020, the commission should take steps to ensure that in 2028, we are going to have it in November,” he said at the launch of JoyNews’ 2024 Election coverage.

The Deputy EC Chairman further explained that the new date will be a selected day in November, and not November 7 as widely speculated.

“This must be clear, we were not talking about November 7. At the IPAC meeting, the decision was a day in November. So it can be the first Monday, a second Monday, a third Monday or Tuesday or Friday or Thursday