The Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church has reignited the call for a change in the date for general elections from December 7 to an earlier day, preferably, in November.
The Church is therefore proposing a constitutional reform to change December 7 as the election date in Ghana.
This proposition, according to the church, is in pursuit of deepening electoral democracy and engendering the necessary dialogue to ensure that none, especially minority groups, are excluded from participating in the electoral process.
The Church made the proposal during a meeting with representatives of the Electoral Commission (EC) on June 7, 2023.
In a statement, the Church pointed out that, it has members in all parts of the country and its 2,090 church buildings and widespread school buildings are often used as election centres with some Adventist members serving as EC’s temporary staff during elections.
“Among other things, the proposed date change automatically necessitates the amendment of non-entrenched Article 112(4) for Parliamentary elections to meet the period guaranteed in Article 63(2) for Presidential elections.
“The proposed elections date change is also recommended in the proposals of the Reports of the 2011 Constitutional Review Commission and 2015 Electoral Reform Committee,” the statement said.
The SDA explained its crusade on the matter is in the name of the corporate body and will not in any way force members against the exercise of the choice to vote or not to vote.
The statement said ahead of the meeting with the EC, the leadership of the Adventist Church also met and built consensus with some religious bodies and political parties.
These include the Office of the National Chief Imam, the leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Convention People’s Party (CPP), and People’s National Convention (PNC) as major stakeholders of the EC on the subject of election date change from December 7 for the year 2024 and beyond.
