Sup guys, this is just a little something i feel like writing about, Mr. President declaring the voting day as a public holiday.
In my previous publication, i published “President Akufo-Addo Declares Monday, December 7 a Public Holiday”, and now it is time we give this a second deep thought even though it has already been announced but let’s be real here guys.
Before we get to what i wanna say,
We're now on WhatsApp. Click here to join.
This declaration was made known to the public following a press statement released 3 days ago, Wednesday, December 2, 2020, by the Director of Communications at the Presidency, Eugene Arhin.
The release pointed out that the decision taken by the president is to, see below.
1) Facilitate facilitate the conduct of the election in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2) Help ensure strict observance of Covid-19 safety protocols on election day.
3) Enable registered voters exercise their franchise in safety and with minimal inconvenience.
Ghana’s Election Day As Holiday
I have no problems with the above first and second points but rather got something on the third which has to do with enabling registered voters to exercise their franchise, that’s what I’m interested in.
I am very much aware that the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana came in with this idea, had a meeting with the various political parties contesting which they all agreed to before deciding on releasing result with the thought kept in mind that it’s to help smooth the process on the d-day.
Now it is time for me (Stermy) to take you through my observation regarding this whole holiday issue
After some back and forth conversations with some friends, we deduced that this plan which is meant to help smoothen the process of balloting might be a wrong move.
Why Will It Be A Bad Move?
The fact that December 7, the day set for Elections declared as a public holiday will push all workers working in especially the government space be at home, relieved of duty so as to cast their votes, it will also cut down/reduce the expected total number of registered voters to vote, (the total of registered voters to cast their votes amounts to over 17, million).
You are a voter who stays at Kasoa but works at Kanneshie, Accra, Circle, or even a place very far away from your home, you leave every day to your workplace from home by car, you were not able to register in your locality maybe due to the schedule and registration time frame, but instead got the chance to register at the area where your workplace is situated.
Some people got the chance to register at different locations even far from their localities due to the long cue, some got the chance to be selected by party officials who conveyed them in cars to a location where they will be given protocol looks and register without hustle.
Some agreed to that thinking that a time will come where EC will open the transfer window so they can transfer the registrations back to communities, even though it happened it was a limited thing, too quick for people to take time off to give a shot.
Now check this out, but let’s be real over here. Now that the said Election day is declared a public holiday which means there will be no work for you, and you might get enough time to go cast your votes.
But come to think of it, after a back and forth hammering of thoughts in one’s head, what will happen if a person decides to boycott the December 7 elections, looking at the very long distance the person/worker who is on holidays is supposed to travel to his/her registered polling station, join and be in a very lengthy cue due to the Covid-19 pandemic to cast their ballots after not been able to transfer votes back to their area.
Don’t you guys think this will cut down the turnouts of the expected voters? This might also lead to a certain political party losing the polls due to the fact that some number of workers who were supposed to vote, adding up to the total number of votes cast to elect a party into office decided not to vote thinking it might be a waste of time/resources due to the journey they are to travel and the hustle it will be accompanied with.
I made this post after a long chat with some friends who stay in my area but works in a town far away from home going and coming back on daily basis rendering me with reports/words coming from their colleagues at work.
What do you make of this post, give it a like, share, as well as a comment wherever you see it let’s share ideas.
Also do well to follow me on all social media handle at Stermy (@stermygh)
