Go out to exercise franchise today

From 7 this morning, Ghanaians will go to the polls to elect assembly and unit committee members to manage the affairs of the various electoral areas across the country for the next four years.

In all the electoral areas, the elections are expected to end at 5 p.m.

We consider these elections as an important national exercise which requires all eligible voters to participate to make them a success.

For us at the Daily Graphic, we expect all voters not only to participate and fulfill their civic responsibilities but also help elect competent and hardworking assembly and unit committee members to run affairs at the local level.

As a nation, we keep complaining about the slow pace of development at the assembly and unit levels and we think that today’s elections offer the citizenry a good opportunity to participate in the decision-making process.

Indeed, if we do not participate to get competent representatives elected, good governance practices could be undermined in the long run.

For this reason, we will like to enjoin all voters to go out there to cast their votes independently for their candidates of choice, bearing in mind that without good and competent assembly members, it will be very difficult to get representatives who will devote their time to serve the citizenry, as well as manage the nation’s scarce resources judiciously.

We also wish to advise that no voter worth the accolade “good citizen” must stay away from today’s exercise. All should go out in their numbers to ensure that assembly members who have the ability to provide positive directions for good governance practices are voted into office.

In furtherance of this, we would like to caution the voting population, as well as the candidates seeking to be elected, to go about this national exercise peacefully, devoid of violent conduct or behavior.

This way, it will help ensure that the current prevailing peace needed for accelerated sustainable development not only prevails but also strengthens inclusive and accountable governance in the country.

We are aware that during today’s exercise, priority will be given to the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities (PWDs), pregnant women, the aged, those with special needs, among others, to vote ahead of others as part of fairness and promoting inclusive participation.

We are happy to note that the election management body, the Electoral Commission, has already trained persons with visual impairment on how to use the tarter jacket to vote.

Additionally, other stakeholders, including election officials, members of the security services, health and media practitioners who may have roles to play during the election will be given the chance to vote as soon as they approach the presiding officers of the various polling stations.

This, we believe, will go a long way to encourage all persons to participate in the process to choose our leaders at the local level who will work to bring about development at the grassroots.

We would like to remind managers of the election process to execute these important functions responsibly and diligently in order not to bring about any confusion or disaffection at the polling stations.

We believe that when we go through this exercise smoothly and peacefully, it will go a long way to enhance our globally touted democratic credentials and so nothing should be done to rock the boat.