Replacement of presidential candidate of Ghana Freedom Party will be costly — CSOs

Two governance and elections watchers have observed that the state will incur costs if the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) decides to replace its presidential candidate on the ballot paper for the 2024 general election.

The two — the Director for Policy Engagement and Partnerships at the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Asante, and the National Coordinator of the Coalition for Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), Albert Arhin — expressed the view in separate interviews with the Daily Graphic.

Their comments follow the decision by the Electoral Commission (EC) to suspend the printing of the 2024 presidential ballot papers as a result of the passing of the presidential candidate of the GFP, Akua Donkor, last Tuesday when the printing of the ballots for the elections was ongoing.

Ms Donkor is number three on the 2024 presidential ballot paper.

The EC, in a statement signed and issued by its Deputy Chairperson in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, said: “While the 1992 Constitution and the Public Elections Regulations, 2020, C.1. 127, are not clear on processes to follow in the event of the death of a presidential candidate, Article 50 (4) of the 1992 Constitution provides as follows: ‘where at the close of nominations, but before the election, one of the candidates dies, a further period of the 10 days shall be allowed for nominations’”.  

The commission said it has since informed the GFP to make arrangements to nominate a new candidate and inform the Commission accordingly.

Cost

Speaking on the issue, both Dr Asante and Mr Arhin observed that the EC had already invested heavily in printing ballots for over 18 million voters, adding that “If the GFP decides to replace their presidential candidate, the ballots would need to be reprinted, adding to the expense”.

"If the Ghana Freedom Party decides to contest and brings a replacement, all printed ballots will be destroyed, and new ones will be printed," Mr Arhin explained.

This, he said, would incur additional costs for the government.

“The GFP has already secured the third position on the ballot paper, which won't change, regardless of the party's decision. However, the presidential ballot requires reprinting if a new candidate is introduced,” he emphasised.

"If they fill the vacuum within 10 days as required by law, reprinting will start, Mr Arhin observed, adding that, “this may impact election timelines, necessitating day-and-night printing.”

“If the GFP declines to contest, Akua Donkor's picture will remain on the ballot, but votes for her will not be counted. The EC will inform the public accordingly,” he said.

Mr Arhin expressed the hope that the GFP would decline to contest to save the nation additional printing costs.

Law

For his part, Dr Asante said "The C.I 127 is not clear whether it's related to parliamentary elections or instances with only two candidates," adding that "The EC has applied it generally for public elections, but reprinting ballots will incur significant costs."

Dr Asante questioned whether it's possible to proceed with the current ballots, even if a new candidate is nominated. "People know they're voting for a particular party," he said.

However, there's no clear legislation to support this approach.

To mitigate future costs, Dr Asante proposed clarifying the law regarding candidate replacement and exploring designs that accommodate party and candidate changes without requiring reprinting.

"If you put it in context, if it had happened to the NPP or the NDC, I don't think anybody would be talking about cost," Dr Asante noted.

He emphasised that finding alternative solutions was crucial, as the current situation presented a challenge.