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Election won on election day

Election won on election day

All too soon another election is beckoning Ghanaians and members of various political parties and candidates are already experiencing stomach-churning moments as they seek to know the possible outcome of the election and for that matter who wins the 2016 Election.

Already, the political actors are on the edge, with exactly nine days to the special voting for the media, security personnel and election officials on December 1, 2016, and the main presidential and parliamentary elections only 15 days away.

No wonder the rising political tensions can very well be understood as political analysts also keep guessing, speculating, and issuing out opinion polls in favour of one political party or against the other.

Lessons from US polls

Even though elections are a process and not an event, an election day is highly significant and cannot be taken for granted.

The outcome of the US polls showed that one could engage in all the predictions, and prophecies but the electorate are a fluctuating phenomenon and very unpredictable.

The US Election, where against all odds Donald Trump emerged victorious and in its wake stunned the world, must teach our political actors that elections are won on election day, notwithstanding the exit polls, media hypes and flamboyant campaign rallies.

Right here in Ghana, a former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Kwadwo Owusu-Afriyie (aka Sir John), has also cautioned politicians to fear delegates because of their fluctuating character which makes them very unpredictable.

Who wins 2016 polls?

This means political parties cannot deceive themselves into believing that an election has already been won. Clearly, whichever political party or whoever gets the real votes on election day to win the 2016 polls must do something extra more to connect and resonate with the electorate.

Rather than using violent actions to win the ballot, they need to be more vigilant during the day of election and channel their pent-up energy and passion into policing the ballot to make sure all votes count.

If political parties or their candidates play their watchdog role well at the polling station, it will go a long way to contribute to the acceptability of the election results.

In so doing, it is incumbent on political parties and candidates to appoint trustworthy polling agents not only for themselves but also for the credibility and integrity of the election.

Parties competing for political power, therefore, need to take special care in selecting a polling agent. Parties need to pay special attention to the quality of people they present as polling agents and train them in their roles on election day.

 Now is the time for political parties to train their members at the ward, polling station, constituency and the regional levels to be vigilant.

After all, we want vigilance, orderliness and a peaceful voting process, but not violence or a disruptive process.

We are also voting for a leader  with tough policies, who speaks the minds of Ghanaians, in sectors of job and wealth creation, and who is decisive.

The electorate are also voting for the good of the nation and they are expected to stand firm and make sure they vote for what they believe in.

It will be totally insulting, wrong and shameful on one’s dignity to allow somebody to buy your vote cheaply. This is because your vote is your power and cannot be given away so cheaply.

Why do we vote?

When we do this, it will mean we are growing our democratic culture.

It behoves the Ghanaian voter to once again go to the polls for the seventh time come December 7, 2016, and reward or reject the political parties and candidates who have remained in touch or lost touch with the masses and realities.

When everything is done on December 7,  by voting to elect both our president and 275 Members of Parliament, Ghana is expected to portray to the global community that in spite of all the heat before the elections, calm will prevail.

One thing stood out clearly during the US election where the two key contestants - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton - portrayed to the world that in spite of all the heat before the elections, they were all seeking the larger US interest, and Ghanaians are expected to do same.

It should not matter which party one belongs to; Ghana is the country we are all fighting for and the country we all want to uphold and live in freedom, justice and equality for all.

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