The flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has bemoaned the increasing ‘spoilt ballots’ that emerge at every major elections advising that people devise alternatives to avert that.
John Dramani Mahama says ‘spoilt ballots’ have always followed the NDC and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as the third ‘top candidate’ in recent major elections.
According to him, people who feel they have challenges with the voting process can go in the company of others who will help them to vote properly.
The act, which he claim is legitimate, will help reduce the number of spoilt ballots counted at the end of each elections, expressing belief that that will help increase the performance of the NDC in the December 2024 elections.
Speaking at the Great Hall of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) at the launch of the party’s Women’s Manifesto Monday, September 30, 2024, Mahama said persons who have eye problems and other challenges have the right to seek assistance from others to vote properly.
“The spoilt ballots have always taken third position in our elections meaning a lot of people don’t know how to vote. In the law, it is allowed that if someone doesn’t know how to vote, he or she can go with someone who can help him vote, if the person has eye problem or something,” he said in Twi.
In a related development, the Member of Parliament for Bolgatanga Central, Isaac Adongo, at the launch of the NDC parliamentary candidate’s campaign in Tamale Central, advised that people should not bother about the position of a candidate or his number on the ballot paper before voting.
According to him, the NPP is expert in ‘juju’ and trying to look for faces or numbers may affect people’s choices. He said the only thing to look out for is the umbrella which cannot be confused for any other thing.
“Don’t be looking for 1, 2, 3, 4. If you go and start looking at the names and you see Bawumia you’ll get confused and vote for Bawumia. So don’t look at their faces, look for the umbrella.
“Otherwise, you’ll go and look at somebody’s face and say that ‘this is a handsome man o, this handsome man and I’m not voting for him?’ Look for the umbrella. If you look at their faces, their ‘juju’ will work so you look for the umbrella, they cannot fight juju with the umbrella. Look for the umbrella, whether it is number 2, 8 or number 20 umbrella is always an umbrella,” he said Sunday, September 29, 2024.
Election 2024: Retaining NPP in power means no gov’t can be voted out for governing poorly – Adongo
