The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) will on Saturday, June 20, 2020, organise parliamentary primaries in constituencies where the party has sitting Members of Parliament.
A total of 374 aspirants are contesting in 168 constituencies.
Of the number, 325 are men and 51 women.
67 of the aspirants are contesting unopposed and would be acclaimed by delegates of the party in the various constituencies.
Primaries in Gushegu in the Northern Region, Kwadaso in the Ashanti Region and Dormaa Central in the Bono Region were earlier put on hold due to certain developments.
But the decision has been rescinded thus paving the way for primaries to be held in the aforementioned constituencies.
In Gushegu and Dormaa Central, the aspirants will contest unopposed while in the Kwadaso constituency, the primary has been slated on June 24, 2020.
Read below the guidelines and modalities for the NPP’s parliamentary primaries:
Voting Day Regulations:
1) The Primaries shall be held on Saturday, June 20, 2020, on Electoral Area basis per the Electoral Commission’s designation
2) Voting shall be supervised by the Electoral Commission of Ghana assisted by the respective National Parliamentary Vetting Committees
3) Delegates shall comprise all Polling Station executives; all Constituency Executives; 5 members of the Constituency Council of Elders; 5 members of the Constituency Council of Patrons; as well as any founding member of the Party from the Constituency, who was a signatory to the registration document of the Party at the Electoral Commission.
4) The five (5) members of the Constituency Council of Elders; the five (5) members of the Constituency Council of Patrons; all the members of the Constituency Executive Committee; as well as the Party’s Founding members who were signatories to the registration document of the Party at the Electoral Commission shall all be accredited to vote at the Constituency Secretariat.
5) The Polling Station Executives and the Electoral Area Coordinators shall be accredited to vote at the Electoral Area voting centre.
6) The Constituency Album which has been broken down into Electoral Area Album shall be used to identify all delegates who are eligible to vote in their respective Electoral Areas.
7) Delegates will be required to produce an NPP Membership ID Card or any other recognized National ID card to entitle them to vote
8) Proxy voters shall be accredited delegates in the Constituency
9) Voting starts at 7 am and ends at 1 pm
10) Each delegate will be required to thumbprint in front of his or her preferred candidate on the ballot paper that will be issued
11) A Ballot Paper will not be counted if:
a) it does not bear the official validating stamp of the Commission.
b) it is not thumb printed by the delegate to clearly identify the preferred candidate he/she is casting the vote for.
c) it is not thumb printed at all
d) it is thumb-printed more than one candidate on the ballot paper.
e) it is thumb-printed in such a way that the choice of the delegate is not clear.
f) it has mark(s) that identifies who the delegate is not clearly defined.
Counting and declaration of results:
a) Counting of the ballot will be done immediately after the close of Polls at each Electoral Area Polling Centre and at the Constituency Secretariat Polling Centre
b) Ballot will be counted and declared by the EC Presiding Officer in the presence of Candidates’ Agents.
c) Counting shall not begin until after 1pm
d) Each Candidate will be represented by One (1) Polling Agent at each Voting Center (i.e. Electoral Area).
e) The results of each Electoral Area Polling Centre and that of the Constituency Secretariat Polling Station will all be collated at the Constituency Secretariat which shall be the Constituency Collation Centre.
f) Only Candidates and their Agents (1 each) will be allowed entry at the Constituency Collation Centre
g) The Electoral Commission’s District Officer at the Constituency Secretariat will do the final declaration of results for the Constituency Primaries.
Voting Offences:
It is an offence to:
a) vote or attempt to vote more than once at the primaries.
b) buy or sell a vote
c) compel somebody to vote in a particular way
d) obstruct a delegate from freely exercising his or her right to vote
e) display your marked ballot paper in such a way as to make it known to others the candidate you are voting for.
f) take photo of how he/she voted in any particular way.
Code of Conduct for Candidates
a) Candidates shall cease all forms of campaign activities by midnight (12 am) of June 19, 2020
b) Candidates shall campaign on issues and refrain from leveling unsubstantiated allegations, personal attacks and vilifications against their opponents
c) No candidate shall undertake any activity that will polarize the Constituency along tribal, religious and other factional lines. Candidates shall also require their supporters not to engage in any of these activities
Disputes arising out of the voting process shall be referred the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee for amicable resolution
Guidelines for Constituencies with Unopposed Candidates
a) There shall not be elections in Constituencies where there are unopposed candidates.
b) Delegates in these Constituencies will however be required to converge at the Electoral Area or Zonal Level for Candidates to address them.
c) The Venue for this meeting shall be determined by the National Parliamentary Vetting Committee for each Region in consultation with the sole Candidate to smoothen the process based on situation-specific dynamics
d) This process is not subject to Regulation (1) and Regulation (9) of these guidelines. This means it can be held in more than a day, and does not also have to start from 7am to 1pm.
17) Constituencies where Primaries have been suspended
a) Constituency Primaries in the Kwadaso Constituency in the Ashanti Region have been suspended till further notice
b) Constituency Primaries in the Gushegu Constituency in the Northern Region have been suspended till further notice
c) Constituency Primaries in the Dormaa Central Constituency in the Bono Region have been suspended till further notice
18) Primaries for outstanding ‘Orphan Constituency’
a) Constituency Primaries shall be held in the Krachi West Constituency of the Oti Region
b) The Primaries shall be held on Saturday, June 20, 2020.
c) Primaries in the Krachi West Constituency shall be conducted in accordance with Regulation (16) above since there is only one Candidate.
