EC can’t rig elections 

The Presidential Candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC), Hassan Ayariga, has stated that the Electoral Commission (EC) is not in a position to make any presidential candidate President at the polls.

He, therefore, urged political parties and their candidates to focus on doing their work at the polling stations instead of being fixated on the EC rigging the elections in favour of another candidate or political party.

Speaking at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting last Tuesday, Mr Ayariga said the EC and its officials were not in a position to rig the elections if the political parties and their candidates did their homework well.

EC

The chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, noted that the outcome of elections largely depended on the Ghanaian electorate.

“The EC can never make anybody a president. What the EC does is declare who the voters choose as their president. And so it is the Ghanaian voter who votes for a president. It is not the EC that makes a president. We only declare the voters' choice, which will happen come December 2024,” the EC boss added.

“We should not peddle disinformation, fake news and disinformation and give the impression to the innocent citizens, who do not know the process, that the electoral commission can make somebody a president,” she said. 

Power of citizens 

Ms Mensa further stated that the commission was also putting measures in place to disabuse the minds of the voters that the EC was planning on disenfranchising anyone. 

“We go out of our way to provide resources for our officers on the field to bring them on board for the mission. It is important to note that we do everything in our power so that everybody who registered will have the opportunity to do so. So it is in our interest to ensure that every single person who registered is given the opportunity to vote,” she said. 

Ms Mensa noted that the EC’s only mandate was merely to be a referee to arrange and organise an orderly and fair election and to declare the winner of elections based on the choices of the electorate. 

Disfranchise

She assured Ghanaians that the EC would employ whatever means necessary to ensure no eligible voter was disenfranchised during the upcoming general election in December. 

She said that, in addition to protecting the peace and stability Ghana was revered for, a transparent and credible election would also credit the electoral body on the international stage. 

“This country belongs to all of us. The EC does not have the intention to disenfranchise anyone. Indeed, it is in our interest to ensure that everybody on the road goes to vote. It is to our credit. When you say that 79 per cent came out, it is to our credit. Because if you look at countries around us, in Nigeria, for instance, I think they had a 27 per cent turnout. Twenty-seven per cent is very low. It doesn't meet international standards,” she said.