2020 polls: Nomination of candidates go online – EC

The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has said it would accept nominations of candidates for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections online due to the spread of coronavirus.

Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, indicated that the new procedure has been introduced to minimize physical contact to curtail the spread of the pathogen.

“In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Commission will for the first time make nomination forms available on its website,” Mrs Mensa said at the sixth edition of the ‘Let the Citizen Know’ press series.

She explained that aspirants are not required to go to the office of the commission to pick up their nomination forms before filing.

“They can simply visit our website and download the various forms. This will also help to lighten the burden that candidates have to go through to file. Guidelines for nominations will also be made available on our website. The Commission believes that this initiative will simplify the arduous filing process,” she said.

The dates for filing nominations are yet to be announced.

Under the previous arrangement, aspirants or their representatives would visit the district, regional or national head office of the EC to pick up the forms.

It is characterised by political euphoria as supporters matched in their numbers to the venue to offer support to their preferred candidate.

After picking the forms, the aspirants are required to provide all necessary information and submit at a specified date provided by the EC.

EC registers 11.6m for voter card

As the ongoing voter registration gets into the fifth phase, the EC has provided figures on the number of registered persons.

As of Friday, July 24, the total number of registered voters stood at 11,629,480.

The Greater Accra Region had the highest number of registrants totalling 2,615,925, followed by the Ashanti Region with 2,089,923.

In terms of gender, more women are registering than men with a wide gap.

The EC has registered 6,100,440 women as against 5,528,970 for men.

Women make up 52.5% of registered citizens so far, compared to men who make up 47.5%.

Below is the regional breakdown:
GREATER ACCRA 2,615,925
ASHANTI 2,089,923
EASTERN 1,084,734
CENTRAL 1,074,519
WESTERN 734,545
NORTHERN 687,123
VOLTA 660,508
BONO 460,226
UPPER EAST 409,825
BONO EAST 391,777
WESTERN NORTH 300,015
UPPER WEST 299,480
OTI 226,109
AHAFO 212,670
SAVANNAH 195,126
NORTH EAST 186,975
TOTAL 11,629,480