For this year's District Level Election (DLE), the Electoral Commission (EC) has designated October 3, 2023 as per its planned activities.
The DLE date, however, could alter if Parliament approves the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) that was suggested, according to the statement.
This was announced yesterday in Accra at a forum on the 2023 DLE by Samuel Tettey, the deputy chairman of the EC in charge of Operations.
The meeting's topic was "2023 District Level Election:
The Center for Local Government Advocacy organized "The Role of Stakeholders and Emerging Issues" (CLGA).
In addition to discussing strategies to increase voter turnout, which has historically been at an all-time low, it was intended to inform stakeholders about the DLE.
Assembly and Unit Committee members will be chosen by the DLE.
Mr. Tettey stated during the event that the new C.I., which sought to make the Ghana Card the only document used for identification upon registration, had not yet been placed before Parliament.
When adopted, the new C.I., according to him, would control the nation's ongoing voter registration.
"If this new C.I. passes, the commission will start the district-level continuous voter registration activity," he stated.
In addition, he stated that the commission's internal operations, such as hiring people, logistics, and other election administration procedures, may also warrant a change in the DLE's scheduled date.
In contrast to the presidential and parliamentary elections, he claimed, candidates for the DLE were not required to pay a filing fee or deposit.
During a series of public and voter education programs on the DLE, he said, the EC would provide information on the electoral processes.
In order to guarantee a free, fair, and transparent election, Mr. Tettey urged all stakeholders to support the EC by carrying out their responsibilities.
Turnout
Dr. Eric Oduro Osae, a local governance expert, asked for the DLE to be politicized in order to increase voter turnout.
According to him, section six of the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936) as amended by Act 940 said that the DLE should be held every four years, at least six months before the presidential and parliamentary elections.
He mentioned that eight consecutive local level elections have been held in Ghana since 1988 in an effort to increase public involvement.
Notwithstanding the constitutional guarantee of the right to vote, he claimed, there had been severe voter indifference in local government elections, which had resulted in poor turnout.
Compared to the national turnout for the 2020 general election, which was approximately 78.89%, "Turnout for DLE has been dropping from 59.3 percent in 1988/89 to 33.6 percent in 2019."
"Since we joined constitutional rule under civilian elected governments in 1993, we have never hit the 50% turnout mark, with the exception of the 59.3% turnout during the PNDC military dictatorship," he stated.
Dr. Osae suggested, among other things, amending article 55(3) to permit political parties to sponsor candidates, increasing public awareness of the DLE, and developing methods to increase women's and youth engagement in order to increase voter turnout for this year's DLE.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Dan Botwe, stated that the ministry would engage with the media to provide proper coverage on the DLE and that an Accra National Media Brief would be held to kick off the awareness raising.
In order to ensure a successful election, he reaffirmed the ministry's commitment to strengthening decentralization and working with stakeholders.
For her part, CLGA's Deputy Executive Director Gillian Naadu Tetteh advocated for a rise in the number of women and people with disabilities (PWDs) voting by encouraging them to participate in the election.
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