Any vote for Akua Donkor on December 7 will be cancelled - EC

The Electoral Commission (EC) has announced that votes cast for Akua Donkor, the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) presidential candidate, in the forthcoming December elections will be invalid.

Dr Bossman Asare, Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Corporate Services, made this announcement during an appearance on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, 16 November. He emphasised that, although Akua Donkor’s name and photograph will appear on the ballot paper, any votes cast in her favour will not be counted.

“Now we know we have 12 candidates, so any vote for Akua Donkor would be annulled. It is not possible for her to win,” Dr Asare stated. He also mentioned that the EC is intensifying public education to reduce the likelihood of invalid votes.

This clarification follows the disqualification of Philip Appiah Kubi, another GFP candidate, leaving Akua Donkor’s inclusion on the ballot as a procedural formality.

EC Chairperson Jean Mensa, speaking at an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting on 12 November, explained that the ballot order will remain unchanged despite the disqualification. “The printing of presidential ballots is already 90 percent complete,” Ms Mensa said, adding that maintaining the existing arrangement avoids unnecessary delays.

Relatedly, the EC has announced plans to destroy ballot papers containing errors that have not yet been sent to the Volta and Ahafo Regions due to issues with serialisation. As a result, the EC has decided to reprint the affected ballots for these regions.

During an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Friday, 15 November 2024, the EC disclosed this decision. To ensure transparency, the Commission has committed to including representatives of political parties in overseeing the destruction process.

In a statement issued on 16 November, the EC stated:

“The re-printing of the ballot papers for Ahafo and Volta Regions will be undertaken by Buck Press and Acts Commercials respectively. As has always been the case, the affected ballot papers will be shredded and incinerated (burned). Both activities will be witnessed by Agents of the Political Parties and a Destruction Certificate will be issued and signed by them.”

The EC explained that the errors were caused by deficiencies in an automated system designed to ensure precise serialisation. To address the issue, the Printing House adopted a manual process. However, after further evaluation, this manual system was deemed unreliable.

“Upon further assessment, the Commission decided that the manual system was not fool-proof and could therefore not be relied upon to produce an accurate serialisation of the ballots. In light of the above, the Commission decided to reprint the ballot papers and informed the Political Parties at an Emergency IPAC Meeting on Friday, 15th November 2024.”

The Commission has assured all stakeholders that it will take all necessary measures to maintain transparency and uphold trust in the electoral process.

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