Voting is civic responsibility - First-time voters told

The Assistant Programme Officer of Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Bright Ayivi, has urged the youth, especially first-time voters and qualified students, to actively participate in the upcoming 2024 general election.

He said their participation was a vital part of the democratic process as every vote had the potential to bring about change.

Voters engagement

He was speaking at an engagement with first-time voters from the Bibiani Senior High School and College of Health and Allied Sciences at Sefwi Anhwiaso in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai municipality in the Western North Region.

It was organised by the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), in partnership with the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) with funding support from the US Embassy in Ghana.

The engagement sought to equip first-time voters to achieve free, fair, accountable, transparent and inclusive electoral process in the 2024 General Election.

Dubbed: "Youth Voice:" Activating First-Time Voters for Ghana's General Election, it brought together more than 5,000 students from the two schools.

Integrity

Mr Ayivi tasked the first-time voters not to allow themselves to be influenced by any political party leaders.

He entreated first-time voters to vote with integrity to ensure the right people were elected into office.

For his part, the Electoral Commission Officer of the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipal Assembly, Prince Amoako Baah, took the students through the electoral process, particularly when voting started and ended, the importance of voting and how to vote in order to reduce rejected and spoilt ballots.

He admonished them to vote based on critical issues on December 7 to ensure resources were equitably distributed.

Mr Baah urged the first-time voters to vote based on policies and development such as health care, education, infrastructure development and graduate unemployment.

He said voting was their civic responsibility and that they should not shy away on election day.