Abstract
This paper investigated the reflections of Electoral Commission (EC) officers and voters in the Jaman South District with regard to ballot paper wastage in elections in Ghana using descriptive exploratory research design. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used to select 172 respondents for the study with questionnaires, structured interview and interview guide as the research instruments. The study revealed that elections were conducted to help select leaders for the nation and to help ensure that leaders are accountable to the people. Policies and ideologies of candidates were found to have little influence on how persons vote. Factors such as protest voting, low public education on elections, and high level of illiteracy were responsible for rejected ballots in the district. Rejected ballot paper was a cost to the EC officers and the voters in terms of resources, time and energy especially during periods of run-offs. The study recommended that the government effectively collaborate with the EC officials in the district to implement policies that will increase voters’ appreciation of issues underpinning democracy. The EC officers in the district should properly collaborate with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to provide adequate public education to enable the electorates in the district to have a proper understanding of basic electoral issues.Key words: Elections; democracy; democratization; disenfranchisement; rejected ballots.
Highlights
Democracy remains a universally valid system of governance, albeit one which needs to be backed up by constitutionally guaranteed rights (Smith, 2004)
In the words of a respondent, “Elections are important for a number of reasons such as to help ensure that leaders are accountable to the people; to help get rid of autocratic government; and to create an environment for the citizens to participate in governance.”
It was established that elections were conducted to help select leaders for the nation, help reduce oppressive rule, and to ensure that leaders are accountable to the people
Summary
Democracy remains a universally valid system of governance, albeit one which needs to be backed up by constitutionally guaranteed rights (Smith, 2004). Democracy is defined in the minimal sense-as a system of government in which the principal propositions of political power are filled through free, fair and regular elections (Hutchful, 2001). Linz and Alfred (2001) argue that for a democracy to be consolidated, a number of pre-conditions such as free civil society, a relatively autonomous and valued political society, the rule of law to guarantee citizens freedoms, independent judiciary and functioning state bureaucracy must exist. As a structured system to enhance democracy and development, different political systems have evolved over these years ostensibly to attain and maintain social balance (Gibbson, 2008; Smith, 2004). Development literature suggests that genuinely competitive elections are the most significant dimensions of a liberal democracy (Cox, 2000)
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