The parliamentary election in the Czech Republic, October 2013

Abstract

referred to in Ghana as ‘overvoting’ (see Asunka et al.,2014).Following eight months of court hearings that werebroadcast live on television and radio, the Court declaredthat the NDC's candidate, John Mahama had been ‘validlyelected’.Akufo-Addo,atrainedlawyer,publiclyacceptedthecourt's judgment. He also urged party supporters to do thesame.Fearsthatthejudgmentwouldbringsocialinstabilitywere not realized.8. ImplicationsThe2012generalelectionsandthejudicialaftermathtooknearly one year. They ultimately showed the importance ofthe judiciary in playing the role of neutral arbiter, as aninstitutionwiththepotentialtobeabovepartisanpolitics.Theelections also saw the shortcomings associated with intro-ducing technological equipment into the electoral processwithout significant testing. In the case of Ghana, it was clearthattheECdidnothaveaback-upplanincaseofthefailureofthe biometric verification equipment. By contrast, thenationwide discussion around the issue of secondary educa-tion and the live presidential debates constituted significantsteps forward in terms of the campaign, offering a greaterbalance between issue-based and personality-based poli-ticking.Bytheend of2013,thegeneralelectioninGhanahadat last been put to rest, and as one Accra resident notes ‘Thisperiod has tested our democracy…No matter your politicalaffiliation, you should be able to say that the victory is forGhana.’