Editorial: Steps to the peaceful election we so crave

While electoral offenses may be difficult to eliminate 100 percent in the coming elections, the prospects for a free and fair election devoid of fraud and cheating are in our opinion, quite good: For one thing, the necessary safeguards have been established to make cheating difficult: The voters register, even if it is still a far from perfect document, has been reviewed to minimize or even completely eliminate double voting and voting by unqualified voters.

The level of vigilance by the political parties, is also so high as to make those who may be inclined to electoral fraud think twice about cheating. Under the prevailing atmosphere, most people have expressed confidence in the Electoral Commission’s ability to conduct the poll in such a manner as to ensure the integrity of the outcome.

The responsibility now lies on all political parties and citizens to commit themselves to responsible, civic conduct during the elections. Election experts studying elections on our continent once posed the question: Amid the ever-present threat election-related violence and wars on the continent, have some countries in Africa been able to reduce electoral violence?

The answer was “yes”, and Ghana’s was cited as an example: In 2004 and 2008, civil society organizations in Ghana worked with international partners to train election observers to monitor the elections and there was some emphasis on the identification of constituencies with the highest chances of electoral violence:

In 2004, the Ghana Center for Democratic Development and the Institute for Policy Alternatives selected nine at-risk constituencies and in 2008 the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) selected 25 at-risk constituencies.

In each case, the data obtained regarding rising tension and violent clashes was shared with stakeholders, such as the security services, the media, the National Peace Council, and other civil society organizations, for the purposes of intervening strategically to defuse emerging hostilities.

Available data show that these timely interventions helped to progressively reduce the number of violent incidents recorded before and during those elections in Ghana.

In 2012, a total of 65 constituencies were identified for close monitoring by CODEO. As with the previous monitoring, the goal was to intervene proactively in reducing the level of tension and resolve the conflicts before they could escalate into more serious incidents.

While the level of electoral violence in past elections in Ghana have not been so serious as to threaten the state, we cannot be complacent.

Unresolved complaints have been identified as some of the main triggers for electoral violence. Effective mechanisms must therefore be instituted for resolving them promptly.

Adequate training programmes should be embarked upon to increase the capacity of polling staff in the handling of election complaints on polling day, in order to resolve any complaints before they degenerate into violence.