Road to Election 2024 Rejected ballot! - Why the large numbers?

In the past eight general elections in the Fourth Republic, the rejected ballot has largely been referenced as another electoral statistic, but it might be of greater importance than ever discussed.

Indeed, rejected ballots have gradually become the third force in successive elections, beating established political parties and independent candidates without campaigning.

Expressed as a fraction of the total number of voters, rejected ballots recorded 3.6 per cent of total ballots cast in the 1992 polls, settled at 1.53 per cent in 1996, and 1.8 per cent in 2000.

In the 2000 presidential run-off, the percentage of rejected ballots was 1.58 of ballots cast, going up again in 2004 to hit 2.13 per cent, and then 2.4 per cent in the 2008 elections.

In the 2008 presidential election, for instance, the number of rejected ballots recorded in the first round was significantly higher than ever, both in nominal terms and percentages.

In 2012, it was 2.3 per cent, 1.46 per cent in 2016, and 2.3 per cent in 2020.

As distinct from a spoilt ballot, a rejected ballot refers to a ballot sheet deemed to have been cast but found to contain errors for which reason it does not count for anyone.

Per the definition of the Electoral Commission (EC), “it is a ballot which is handled by the voter in such a way that the choice of candidate or the voter’s intention cannot be ascertained”.

The features include failing to make a mark; where the mark lies in two candidates’ boxes; where the voter tears the ballot across; or where the voter writes his or her name on the ballot paper and thereby compromises the secrecy of the ballot.

A spoilt ballot, on the other hand, refers to a ballot paper that has been handled in such a way that it is no longer suitable to be used for voting.

A ballot is considered spoilt when it is torn across while detaching it from the booklet; where ink is spilled onto the ballot paper; where the ballot paper is soiled; or where the ballot paper is crumpled.

Whereas a spoilt ballot does not go into the ballot box, a rejected ballot is found in the ballot box.

Causes

While a rejected ballot is simply about faulty handling or casting a ballot wrongly, some party officials, in particular, have mentioned in private conversations other theories such as poor handling of the ballot by election officers and the possibility of sabotage as being responsible for the trend.

But publicly, party officials and some academics cite poor voter education, the carelessness of election officers, and an inconsistent partisan system that hurries to disenfranchise opponents for some of the issues.

A Political Science lecturer at the University of Education, Winneba, Gilbert Arhinful Aidoo, said limited training and occasional partiality among temporary EC staff could lead to inconsistencies in ballot validation.

Beyond that, he argued that "rejected ballots in Ghana are often due to voter errors, including incorrect thumbprinting, selecting multiple candidates, or failing to use the designated ink stamp".

Mr Aidoo said first-time voters or those feeling pressured might "inadvertently spoil their ballots by, for example, smudging the paper", while some electorates might also fold the ballot papers wrongly after casting their votes and end up staining them.

"In Ghana, despite progress in education and eight successful general elections, rejected ballots remain a persistent challenge that could impact election outcomes," he stated.

The lecturer said the number of rejected ballots during the four-year cycle of presidential and parliamentary elections was enough to earn those ballots the "Rejected Ballot Party" tag.

He referred to the 2008 elections that recorded the last of the only two runoffs in Ghana's presidential election history.

"This issue was particularly evident and acute in the 2008 election, where rejected ballots, I dare say, led to a runoff, causing political tension and additional expenses.

Indeed, in that runoff, the victorious party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), triumphed with less than 50,000 votes, while there were 205,436 rejected ballots in the first round.

"In 2012, there were approximately 251,720 rejected ballots (2.3 per cent of votes cast), a figure that decreased slightly to 166,248 (1.45 per cent) in 2016. However, the 2020 election saw an increase, with over 313,000 (almost double the figures of 2016) ballots rejected, indicating that the issue has yet to be effectively addressed," Mr Aidoo stressed.

Addressing the issue, he said, required a multifaceted approach.

"Both the EC and political parties could work to enhance voter education on ballot handling, with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and local media supporting efforts to instruct voters on the correct way to mark and fold ballots.

"Improving training for election officials and ensuring unbiased ballot counting could also make a difference. With stronger voter awareness and accountability, Ghana could see a significant reduction in rejected ballots, allowing the results to better reflect the people's choices," he added.

Voter intentions

The Head of the Department of Political Science of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University for Development Studies, Dr Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari, however, argued that rejected ballots might be "a form of protest", although he added that "the expression of the freedom to protest or disagree is also a great source of voter impairment that affects the right to choose".

"The consequence is disillusionment and subsequent violent agitations, leading to electoral disputes. Collectively, these undermine the development of electoral democracy in a country," he told the Daily Graphic.

"Trend analysis indicates that the major factors influencing the degree of spoiled and rejected ballots in Ghana’s national elections are the number of presidential candidates on the ballots and registered voters.

"The other factors are turnout ratio, illiteracy level of the electorate, and the position of the presidential candidate on the ballot. These other factors do not often affect the intensity of rejected ballots compared to the earlier variables, reinforcing the claim that rejected ballots are largely an issue of the voting process," he said.

"Although Ghana’s democracy is growing towards consolidation, the voting process is still an issue the average voter in Ghana has to grapple with.

This has led to the incidence of a high number of rejected ballots in all elections under the Fourth Republic.

Undoubtedly, the issue of rejected ballots has become one of the key electoral challenges in Ghana’s electoral process and potentially undermines the country’s quest for a perfect democratic consolidation. 

"Clearly, high numbers of rejected ballots affect the democratic choice of who becomes President or Member of Parliament in Ghana," Dr Bukari further argued.

He emphasised that the number of rejected ballots recorded in Ghanaian elections "is unprecedentedly higher since the return to democratic rule in 1992, both in terms of percentages and in nominal figures".

Indeed, the number of rejected ballots in nominal terms increased from 64,354 in 1992 to 88,867 in 1996, constituting an increase of 28 per cent in the rejected ballots from 1992 to 1996. 

In the 2000 general election, the number of rejected ballots increased to as high as 149,276, representing a growth rate of 40.5 per cent from the 1996 general election. 

Even though the growth rate in rejected ballots reduced significantly in the 2004 general election to 20.7 per cent, there was an increase in the number of rejected ballots to 188,123 in nominal terms.

In 2008, there was a significant reduction in the growth of rejected ballots from 20.7 per cent in 2004 to 8.4 per cent in 2008. However, the trend in nominal terms showed a huge 205,438 rejected ballots and this further jumped to 251,720 by 2012, representing 18.4 per cent growth.

"The 2016 election was unique and different in terms of growth and trends in rejected ballots.

The number of rejected ballots reduced significantly from 251,720 in 2012 to as low as 167,349 in 2016 representing a growth rate of -50.42 per cent. However, this increased significantly to 46.6 per cent in 2020, increasing the nominal rejected ballots to 313,397," Dr Bukari indicated.  

He pointed out that "many scholars and political analysts are of the view that 'Rejected Ballot' can adequately be referred to as the 'Third Party' in the Ghanaian presidential elections as it often placed third in the electoral contest as in the case of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections".

He advised that the trend could be cured by increased voter education programmes and civic education campaigns to reduce the phenomenon of rejected ballots in the country’s electoral process.

NPP

The Director of Elections of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Evans Nimako, said rejected ballots as envisaged in Constitutional Instrument 127 related to where the intentions of the voter were not clear, and, therefore, the Presiding Officer would deem it as rejected.

"It can be seen that it has effects on who wins the specific election. For instance, when you look at the 2008 Parliamentary Elections in the Elembele Constituency in the Western Region, Freddie Blay, lost the election to the NDC's Emmanuel Armah Kofi-Buah with a difference of 351 votes. However, there were as many as 5,590 rejected ballots".

"In the last elections in Pusiga Constituency, the NPP parliamentary candidate lost the election by 63 votes, but there were as many as 1,698 rejected ballots. In the same vein, in Sene West Constituency, the NPP candidate lost by 16 votes difference. But there were as many as 660 votes difference," he said.

"A developing democracy must ensure that voters will not have their ballot duly cast rejected. So, the onus is on the EC and the NCCE to undertake voter education to ensure that ballots cast are managed properly," he added.

Mr Nimako said political parties also had the responsibility to ensure that they trained their agents so they could help voters know how to cast their votes and how to fold the ballot paper.

"In terms of human involvement, in some situations, if there are deliberate attempts by some election officials to alter or tamper with the ballots before they are given to the voter, then we have a bad case at the end of the day. So it is important that voter education is intensified," he stressed.

NDC

A Deputy Director of Elections and Information Technology of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Rashid Computer Tanko, told the Daily Graphic that the issue of high rejected ballots in the presidential and parliamentary elections could be minimised through voter education.

He added, however, that controversy over ballot validation was responsible for a good amount of rejected ballots.

"There's another one too, which is a bit contentious, which is when a ballot has no validation stamp. That is quite controversial because you cannot punish a voter if the ballot has not been validated by an electoral official,” Dr Tanko said.

He, therefore, urged voters to examine the ballot papers to ensure that the sheets handed to them had been validated with the EC stamp and there were no stains on them before they entered the booth to thumbprint and cast their ballot.

He said relevant institutions mandated to carry out public education did not have to wait till it was an election year "before they educate the public on this important issue at this stage of the country’s democracy".

CPP

The Communications Director of the Convention People's Party (CPP), Osei Kofi Acquah, said the issue not only caused financial loss to the country but also left the state with the question of whether the eventual winner of the election really had the overwhelming endorsement of Ghanaians given the number of rejected ballots.

"This unfortunate situation must be blamed on the two state institutions paid with the taxpayer’s money to ensure enough education on how qualified Ghanaian electorates can vote accurately,” he said.

"We in the CPP believe that no Ghanaian will get up early in the morning, and join the long queue at the polling station only to waste a ballot," he said.

He proposed intensified education campaigns to reduce the chances of rejected ballots in the December 7 polls.