Eligibility Exception:
A person who (a) is a citizen of Ghana; (b) is of 18 years of age or above; (c) is of sound mind; (d) is resident or ordinarily resident in an electoral area; and (e) is not prohibited by any law in force from registering as a voter is entitled to have his name included in a register of voters for the electoral area during a period set aside for the registration of voters
Registration Type:
Online registration
Registration Basis:
Residence requirement
Election Management & Enforcement
Nameof EMB:
Electoral Commission
Independent EMB:
Yes
EMBNominations:
7 members selected by the President, based on the advice of the Council of State. Expert based membership.
EMBTenure:
unlimited (until retirement age)
Who Runs Election:
Election Management Body
Nameof Elect Enforcement Body:
Supreme Court
Candidacy & Campaign Rules
Restrictto Candidacy:
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS LAW - 1992 (PNDCL 285): Section - 1 - Qualification for Election as President. (1) A person is not qualified to be a candidate for the office of President of Ghana unless- (a) he is a citizen of Ghana by birth; (b) he has attained the age of forty years; (c) he is a registered voter; (d) he is resident in a constituency for which he can stand as a candidate for election to Parliament or has resided there for a total period of not less than five years out of the ten years immediately preceding the election for which he stands or he hails from that constituency; and (e) he has paid all his taxes or made arrangements satisfactory to the appropriate authority for the payment of his taxes. (2) A person is not qualified to be a candidate for the office of President of Ghana if he- (a) owes allegiance to a country other than Ghana; or (b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared- (i) bankrupt under any law in force in Ghana and has not been discharged; or (ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana; or (c) has been convicted - (i) for treason or for an offence involving the security of the State, fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude; or (ii) for any other offence punishable by death or by a sentence of not less than ten years; or (iii) for an offence relating to, or connected with elections under a law in force in Ghana at any time; or (d) has been found by the report of a commission or a committee of inquiry to be incompetent to hold public office or is a person in respect of whom a commission or committee of inquiry has found that while being a public officer he acquired assets unlawfully, or defrauded the State, or misused or abused his office, or wilfully acted in a manner prejudicial to the interest of the State and the findings have not been set aside on appeal or judicial review; or (e) is under sentence of death or other sentence of imprisonment imposed on him by any court; (f) is not qualified to be registered as a voter under any law relating to public elections; or (g) is otherwise disqualified by a law in force on the nomination day. (5) A person shall not be eligible to be elected as the President of Ghana if he- (a) is prohibited from standing election by a law in force in Ghana by reason of his holding or acting in an office the functions of which involve a responsibility for or are connected with the conduct of an election or responsibility for the compilation or revision of an electoral register; or (b) is a member of the Police Service, the Prisons Service, the Armed Forces, the Judicial Service, the Legal Service, the Civil Service, the Audit Service, the Parliamentary Service, the Statistical Service, the Fire Service, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, the Immigration Service, or the Internal Revenue Service.
Debate Average:
1
Debate Format:
multicandidate 2016
Electoral System & Organisation
Elect System Main Election:
Majority
Main Election Type:
Presidential
Main Election Cycle:
4
Numb Round Main Election:
Two
Referenda_Law:
The President shall, under clause (1) of this article, and acting in accordance with the results of the referendum held under clauses (4) and (5) of this article, issue a constitutional instrument giving effect, or enabling effect to be given, to the results. Constitution, art. 5
Referenda_Binding:
Sometimes Binding
Voting Machine:
None
Vote IDRequired:
ID check compulsory
Polling Card:
Polling card compulsory
National Holiday Elect Day:
Never
Districting Source:
EMB
Districting Flexibility:
The Electoral Commission shall review the division of Ghana into constituencies at intervals of not less than seven years, or within twelve months after the publication of the enumeration figures after the holding of a census of the population of Ghana, whichever is earlier, and many, as a result, alter the constituencies. No constituency shall fall within more than one region. The boundaries of each constituency shall be such that the number of inhabitants in the constituency is, as nearly as possible, equal to the population quota. The number of inhabitants of a constituency may be greater or less than the population quota in order to take account of means of communication, geographical features, density of population and area and boundaries of the regions and other administrative or traditional areas. Constitution, art. 47
Frequency Districting Change:
7
Polling Station
Average Voterby Polling Station:
542
Polling Station Numbers:
28992
Listof Polling Station Buildings:
School, Education Centre, College, Masonic Lodge Hall, Salvation Army School, Community Centre
Accessibility Requirement:
Party to UNCRPD. The Constitution enshrines the rights of disabled people and, as far as practicable, requires all public places, facilities which includes to polling stations, to provide access for people with a disability. One of the Presidential candidates was a person with a physical disability, party manifestos were published in braille, and some television coverage of the election and voter education included sign language for the hearing impaired.
Ballot Box Transparency:
Mixed
Box Feeding System:
Voter
Vote Receipt:
No receipt
Tellersor Party Employees:
During the pre-election and election period, the EC appoints a Returning Officer and two Deputy Returning Officers for each of the 275 electoral constituencies, and 148,000 polling station staff.
Count Locallyor Centrally:
locally
Manualor Automatic Count:
manual
Nature Counting Personnel:
The presiding officer
Ballot Paper
Ballot Type:
Paper
Singleor Multi Paper Ballot:
Single
Ballot Paper Type Description:
Single Ballot Paper with Picture of Candidate, Logo. To vote for a candidate, the voter is required to make a thumb print beside the name of the preferred candidate behind a voting screen to maintain secrecy of vote.
Ballot Paper Type Photo Upload:
YES
Orderof Candidatesor Parties:
random
Remote Voting
Temporal Remote Voting:
No
Geographical Remote Voting:
No
Personal Remote Voting:
Automatic right
Remote Voting List:
proxy
Mobile Polling Stations:
No
Special Needs
Provision First Time Voters:
The EC engaged in various activities, not exclusively targeting the young people, which contribute to promoting youth participation. These, include: Seminars, workshops, and sensitization campaigns – on the required steps to participating in the elections (from the registration through to voting); Seminars, workshops and sensitization campaigns – on provisions of electoral offences in order to prevent the youth from violating electoral laws. Training and logistics – to make sure young people take part in the management of the electoral process as registration and/or polling agents.
Provision Blind Voters:
Public Elections Regulations (2012). Regulation 32 states: (1) The presiding officer, on the application of a voter who is incapacitated because of blindness or other physical cause from voting in the manner directed in these regulations, shall permit the voter to be assisted by a person of his own choice. (2) When he accedes to the request for a voter under sub-regulation (1), the presiding officer shall record in the register opposite the name of the voter the fact that the voter was assisted and the reason for assistance.
Provision Deaf Voters:
Public Elections Regulations (2012). Regulation 32 states: (1) The presiding officer, on the application of a voter who is incapacitated because of blindness or other physical cause from voting in the manner directed in these regulations, shall permit the voter to be assisted by a person of his own choice. (2) When he accedes to the request for a voter under sub-regulation (1), the presiding officer shall record in the register opposite the name of the voter the fact that the voter was assisted and the reason for assistance.
Provision Motor Handicap Voters:
Public Elections Regulations (2012). Regulation 23 states: (1) A registered voter who, because of ill-health or absence from his constituency, will be unable to present himself to vote on polling day may, not less than fourteen days before the poll in the constituency where he is registered, apply to the returning officer of the constituency where he is registered or to any representative of the Commission for his name to be entered on the proxy list.
Targeted Initiatives
Recent Major Changes:
In early 2012, Ghana, following many other countries on the continent and elsewhere, began undertaking its first biometric voter registration exercise.
Transparency Initiative:
the presiding officer shall, in the presence of such of the candidates or their representatives and their polling agents as are present, proceed to count, at that polling station, the ballot papers