The National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), has urged residents of the Ningo-Prampram District to actively participate in the December 7 general elections.
The NCCE, with the support of the European Union, is organising series of engagements with more than 20 women and marginalized groups in the District, to whip up their interest in the upcoming elections to ensure a higher voter turnout.
Miss Gifty Agyeiwaa Badu, Ningo-Prampram District NCCE Director, speaking to members of Peace and Love Ladies Club at Dawhenya, reminded the electorate that shunning away from the elections meant shirking their civic responsibility.
Miss Badu said the 1992 constitution of Ghana has given power to the electorate to decide who rules the country and represent them in Parliament.
She added that the Constitution places national sovereignty in the hands of the people, therefore, the need for them to exercise it through voting.
“When you vote, it means you’ve taken the important decision on who should govern you”, she said adding that not doing so meant allowing others to choose for them.
She advised them against selling of their votes and basing their decision to vote for a candidate on the amount of money and other material things presented to them.
Miss Badu asked the electorates to vote based on issues and their conscience rather than on money, religious, ethnic and family ties.
Touching on the voting process, she said voting would start at 0700 hours and end at 1700 hours on December 7. She took them through the various steps of voting and advised them to leave the polling centres after voting and return later to observe the counting of votes.
Miss Badu announced that the Electoral Commission has revised its rules to allow the electorates to thumbprint on the picture of their favourite candidates.
The Ningo-Prampram District NCCE Director explained that the review was to reduce drastically the high number of rejected ballots as witnessed in previous elections.
She said to ensure peace, the law barred people from wearing party paraphernalia to the voting centres as well as intake of alcohol before visiting the polling centres.
She called on political party activists in the District not to engage in politics of insults but rather have issue-based campaigns and tolerate views of their opponents.
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Source: GNA