The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), has advised the Electoral Commission (EC) to review its decision to eliminate the use of indelible ink from the 2024 elections.
National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Arhin said that while Ghana can manage without the indelible ink, it is advisable to retain it as a secondary option in case the biometric system fails.
“To be honest with you, with the process that we have for [voting] in Ghana, we could have easily done away with the indelible ink. We can easily do away with it.
“You see the other side of it is also that sometimes we have these machines that we are using, the DVDs can break down. If it breaks down what are we going to do,” he said on JoyFM’s Newsnight.
He explained that this might be the reason the National Democratic Congress (NDC) consistently emphasised that it was wrong to remove the sole verification process since the inception of the electoral process in Ghana.
“I am sure that is the fear the party is entertaining, so let us use it as a backup. If I were the Electoral Commission, I will just use it as a backup because in our case sometimes the machines do break down. When they break down the indelible ink is the last resort,” he said.
On the back of this, he urged the EC to reconsider its decision and if possible reinstate it.
On December 18 2023, the EC announced that in the 2024 elections and beyond, there would be no need for indelible ink.
Speaking at a press conference, EC chair, Jean Mensa, said this was part of measures by the Commission to improve the electoral process and ensure a robust identification system.
Subsequently, the Minority in Parliament asserted that the EC was acting in breach of the 1992 Constitution with its decision to abandon the use of indelible ink for public elections.
