To promote and enhance participation in electoral governance, the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has partnered with the Electoral Commission and other stakeholders to introduce a system that makes electoral information easily accessible to the public.
The ‘Electoral Dashboard’ as it’s called, is expected to give timely, reliable, and up-to-date information regarding the elections.
The online platform was created by professors at the Faculty of Social Sciences of KNUST as their contribution to inclusive and transparent electoral process in the country.
“We felt that by giving information to the Ghanaian public, will stimulate our participation in electoral process. This in return will provide transparency and enhance the legitimacy of our elections. The online electoral dashboard that we’ve provided is to help with that conversation”, Lead Researcher for the Electoral Dashboard, Professor Gift Dumedah said.
The Electoral Commission is convinced that the platform will make their work easier and transparent.
“This innovation is going to enhance the work of the Electoral Commission. Elections is about information, transparency, and fairness. Being a one-stop-shop for all information regarding elections, the online platform is going to make our work more transparent. This will enable us to build the needed confidence in our electoral system. The academia has now come in to support our electoral system and this is a plus to all of us. We as a Commission will support it to ensure that our electoral activities and processes are made open and transparent to the general public, so that when results are declared everybody will accept it as the true reflection of the desire of those who voted”, Ashanti Regional Director of Electoral Commission, Benjamin Bannor-Bio observed.
The National Peace Council is excited that those in academia have decided to contribute in the electoral process.
The Electoral Dashboard would be fed with verified information from the Electoral Commission, the media, and other independent bodies.
The online platform will ensure that all information regarding the elections and updates on the election day would be easily accessible by the public.
By Ibrahim Abubakar
