2023 District Level Elections underway across the country

The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) has deployed its officials across the country for the 2023 district level elections being held today, December 19, 2023

The Commission has trained and equipped 116,701 officials to manage and conduct the polls. Ballot papers for all 38,315 polling stations have been printed and dispatched, with some 71,775 Biometric Verification Devices (BVDs).

In all, 66,257 candidates, made up of 18,755 candidates for Assembly Member positions and 47,502 candidates as Unit Committee Members, are competing for positions in 6,215 electoral areas across 216 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

District level elections are held in accordance with the Local Government Act, 1993 (Act 462) to elect assembly members and unit committee members at designated electoral areas across Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).

Section 5(3) of Act 462 states: “Elections to a district assembly shall be held once every four years, at least six months before or after a general election of Members of Parliament.”

Section 6(1) of Act 462 also provides that for a person to qualify to be elected as a member of a district assembly, the person must be a citizen of Ghana above 18 years, a registered voter, ordinarily resident in the district they are seeking election, and also be a taxpayer.

In the past, the elections have been characterised by low patronage, with a national average turnout of 30%.

This year’s exercise is therefore being held amid concerns over low voter turnout.

Already, some polling centres in Accra are empty although the electoral officials have fully set up.

On December 18, the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa in acknowledging the apathy shown towards the district assembly elections urged all eligible voters to participate fully in the exercise.

2023 District Level elections: EC encourages eligible voters to participate fully

“Experience over the years shows that this election is not highly participated in. Let us make this election meaningful. We are all aware that developments start at the district level and therefore it is important that as citizens we have a say and a stake in who brings development to our various districts,” Mrs. Jean Mensa, said.

“We would like to entreat all Ghanaians and assure them that the Electoral Commission has put in place all arrangements and modalities have been put in place for a smooth incident-free election. We will like to entreat all Ghanaians to take their time to go to their polling stations to cast their votes,” she urged.

Earlier, other stakeholders such as the National Democratic Congress and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) also encouraged the electorate to turnout in their numbers to vote.

Chairperson of NCCE, Kathleen Addy said by turning out massively to vote the electorate would choose the best people to spearhead good governance at the local level.

“Members of Parliament live and work in Accra; the President’s Office is in Accra; but the assembly and unit committee members live with us in the community and help to address our daily development challenges,” she said.

The Minister of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Dan Botwe, in an interview with TV3 added his voice to the calls.

He is, however, of the view that making the elections partisan would whip up public interest and cause a significant change in the patronage.

“We know the turnout for district level elections in the country in previous years has been extremely low, but we are targeting at least 50 per cent turnout this time around and we want all, irrespective of party affiliation, to go to the polls in their numbers on the day to cast their ballot,” he said.

To address the poor voter turnout, there has been a suggestion for the day on which the election is held to be declared a holiday. Others have proposed that the candidates be made to contest on the tickests of political parties. Whether these suggestions will be considered is a matter of time.

Meanwhile, in the Ashanti Region, Evans Nkum reports that some polling centers in the 1,087 electoral areas would not vote this morning due to injunction and unavailability of some electoral materials.

With additional files from Christian Yalley