CDD urges greater voter education

It said it would also engage some stakeholders to address some specific concerns of the electorate.

A Research Fellow with CDD-Ghana, Dr Kojo Asante, made the call at the presentation of the findings of a pre-election survey conducted by the centre in July 2016.

Findings

According to the findings, half of those surveyed expressed concern over the electoral system, saying it is likely that a wrong vote tally will be announced at the close of polls.

It said most of the respondents showed a high level of awareness of the 2016 general election. On the average, most of the people surveyed (more than 90 per cent) were aware of the location of their polling stations and said they possessed an official biometric card for voting.

The pre-election survey by the CDD-Ghana collected responses from Ghanaians in 291 villages and towns across 168 districts in the country in July 2016.

The study showed that most Ghanaians, about 93 per cent, were registered voters, with only seven per cent unregistered.

The figures showed improvements over the pre-election survey of 2012 which was also undertaken by the CDD and which showed that 76 per cent of those surveyed then had registered, while 24 per cent had not registered.

The 2016 pre-election survey showed that most Ghanaians had a preference for a peaceful poll and the security of all citizens before, during and after the exercise.

They were also optimistic that the election would be free and fair, with 79 per cent of those surveyed giving that indication.

Seventy-six per cent of those surveyed gave their definite intention to vote, while just five per cent said they would not vote.

In relation to the preparedness of institutions for the 2016 elections, the army came tops, closely followed by the police, while the least prepared institution, according to respondents, was the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).

On vote buying, more than half of the respondents (68 per cent) thought the practice was wrong and punishable, with respondents pointing to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) as the worst culprit for vote buying, according to 51 per cent of respondents, with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) closely following at its heels with 32 per cent.

Voter education

Dr Asante said pre-election survey reports such as the one that was being launched provided information to help institutions engage in voter education.

He added that the CDD was engaging with stakeholders to look at issues relating to specific findings of the study and under the remit of their institutions as stakeholders in the election.

He said engagements with institutions on the issues and further action would help in addressing some of the concerns expressed by Ghanaians in the report.

Highlights

Presenting the highlights of the study at a press briefing, a Senior Research Officer of CDD, Daniel Armah-Attoh, stressed the extensiveness of the study and the utility of sampling in researches such as the one undertaken by the organisation.

He explained to journalists that just as samples were taken in the health sector to investigate the condition of a patient, social researchers also dealt with samples and ensured rigorous processes to give an indication of what pertained in reality.