Unique US democratic process - Any lesson for Ghana?
AS I joined 23 other foreign journalists to cover the Indiana State presidential primaries, there were a number of interesting and unique aspects of the US democracy worthy of emulation.
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The first unique thing I saw during the electioneering campaign in the states was that candidates and supporters of the political parties were free to continue to campaign even on the election day, provided they did not carry out their campaigns within 50 yards to the election grounds.
So, it was a common sight to see posters, fliers and other electioneering campaign materials conspicuously displayed or brandished a few metres outside the precinct of the elections.
Early voting
Another unique thing in the elections system is that in the US, voters are categorised into absentee voters, early voters and those who vote on the day of the elections.
I call it unique because that is a practice that is not common in our election process. Even though we have the early voting,it is a preserve of only those who play essential roles on the elections day, such as journalists and the security agents. In the US, any worker, irrespective of the kind of work you do, can take part in the early voting, which goes on for a week before the election day itself. Very convenient, isn’t it? In this way, the electorate in the US have the choice to either wait until the election day itself to go and queue to vote or to take advantage of the early voting, which they do at their convenience.
Absentee voting
Another unique thing I saw in the US election process was the absentee voting, which I was told normally starts three months to the election date, but ends 29 to 30 days before the election date itself. This category of voting is reserved for those who feel they may not be around election time. This group of people includes those in the security service, who might be servicing outside the country in peacekeeping and also US residents in Foreign Service outside the US.
Implications of absentees and early voting
Briefing the foreign journalists, the Co-Director of the division, Mr Brad King, said while the absentee and early voting were convenient for the voters since they did not have to stay in long queues to cast their votes, it was equally convenient for officials of the division to address electoral issues that might crop up.
He, however, said the disadvantage was that voters in those categories could not change their votes later if they felt their choice was not the best.
Qualification to vote
At a media briefing for foreign journalists before the Indiana State voting, the Democrat representative on the Election Division and co-Director of the division, Ms Angie Nussmeyer told the journalists that, generally, a person should be US citizen and was 18 years or above.
She said the person should also have registered as a voter and showed up on the voting day with a photo identification, “to prove that you are really the person registered to vote.”
An eligible voter, she added, should have resided within the precinct 30 clear days before the day of the election.
Who cannot vote?
Ms Nussmeyer, however, explained “you cannot vote if you were ever incarcerated or convicted”, adding that the exception was that if the person was held pending trial, such a person was allowed to register and vote.
“You become not eligible to vote after conviction,” she explained adding that immigrants, who were still going through naturalisation process, were also not allowed to vote.
This is quite unique in Ghana, especially when there was agitation in recent times that prisoners have the right to vote.
Use of voter ID card
Very unique for most of us foreign journalists was the use of any national ID card for voting.
In the US, a voter does not need a specific voter ID card to be able to vote. ID cards, such as a driver’s licence, a passport, military ID and a BMV ID is all a voter needed to be allowed to vote.
This was one of the amazing practices that we also observed.
Composition of the Indiana State Election Division
Another unique development in the democratic set up is the composition of the Indiana State Election Division, the institution that oversees elections in the State.
The institute is run by a four-member body made up of two representatives each from the Republican and Democrat parties.
Mr King explained that the equal representation of the two political parties eliminated completely any misgivings and mistrust that might crop up during elections and could not recall any dispute because the representatives were always together in dealing with electoral issues and concerns.
The way election results are called in the US is yet another unique thing I learnt. Mr King, who is one of the representatives of the Republican Party on the division, told the journalists that normally, the results of the elections in the US were first called by the media, “But the official declaration of an election is done 17 days after the elections by the Election Division and that is official.”
Asked whether there were times the results declared by the media were different from the official declaration by the division, he said it ever happened when there was a close race at the senate level, where one of the contestants was declared winner by the media and the division came out with a different name.
He, however, explained that the first person declared winner had to accept that the media were wrong because that was what the constitution of the state stipulated and for that matter, he could not have contested the final declaration in court.
That was particularly exciting for most of us because that is a practice that is not allowed in our respective countries.
Another unique aspect of the voting we observed was that in the US, a voter does not need to carry a voter ID card. Indeed, there is nothing like voter ID card. All a voter needs is to have a national ID card such as a passport, driver’s licence or other recognised ID cards.
Why unique?
In fact, I called all those practices unique because they were uncommon in the countries where almost all the participating journalists came from. Those are a mark of a mature democracy and a country where the structures and systems are allowed to work effectively.
In our system, these unique processes will not work because there is too much mistrust among political parties and particularly between the ruling government of the day and the opposition parties.
But be as it may, these unique processes are worth examining and possibly adopting to suit our own environment and condition.
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