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EC confirms December 7 remains polls day

The date for this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections remains December 7, the Electoral Commission (EC) has confirmed.

The confirmation quells any speculation that the elections will be held on November 7. But November 7 could be the date for subsequent general elections, as the EC is yet to set in motion the process to have the current date changed.

The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs Jean Mensa, in an interview with the Daily Graphic to either confirm or deny the November 7 date for the elections, said while the EC remained committed to changing the voting date, it would have to shelve that plan for this year because the change of date would have to go through a process before the date could be changed.

For this year, she said, the time was too short for the EC to do so. In the run-up to the 2016 elections, there were plans to change the voting day from December 7 to November 7 to allow for smooth transitions from one government to another.

The EC has initiated the process to amend Article 112 (4) of the 1992 Constitution, which will allow it to change the date of elections from December 7 to November 7, to make the elections convenient and also enhance the electoral process.

Providing further insight into the issue, a Deputy Chairperson of the EC in charge of Operations, Mr Samuel Tettey, said to enable the EC to amend the law, it had to write to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice justifying why it needed to change the date.

Following that, he explained, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice would initiate a bill for the appropriate amendment, with the requisite justification.

He said the bill would also have to go through the requisite parliamentary process, after which two-thirds of Members of Parliament would have to vote in favour of the amendment.

He further explained that once Parliament approved of the amendment, the EC would then go ahead to begin the processes to change its calendar and programmes to be in tune with the new date.

Source:Fiilafmonline/Graphic

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