The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC) has extended an invitation to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to resume participating in Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meetings.
Following the 2020 general elections, the NDC had boycotted all IPAC sessions. The EC Chairperson made the invitation during a stakeholders’ meeting on inter-party dialogue organized by the National Peace Council at Peduase in the Eastern Region.
“I would like to use this opportunity to invite the leadership of the National Democratic Congress to our IPAC meetings. We do realize that since 2021, the NDC has not been present at our IPAC meetings. We miss them, we miss their fire. I extend an olive branch, and in the interest of the peace of our country. We invite them to IPAC,” she expressed.
In addition, the EC Chairperson justified the decision to shift the closing time of voting from 5:00 pm to 3:00 pm for the upcoming 2024 general elections.
This adjustment is aimed at facilitating transparent and orderly vote collation by electoral officers in daylight. Mrs. Mensa emphasized that the proposal is based on lessons learned from the 2020 elections, where about 70 percent of voting centers had minimal activity by 1:00 pm.
She explained that the objective is to reduce long queues during elections by ensuring that all polling stations have a threshold of 500 voters or fewer.
The EC plans to increase the number of polling stations nationwide to achieve this. Mrs. Mensa believes that closing the polls at 3:00 pm will allow for a smoother and hassle-free voting process, citing the success of a similar policy in 2020, where voters took no more than five minutes to cast their votes.
The earlier closing time will enable counting and collation in broad daylight, promoting transparency and orderliness, she concluded.
