The Electoral Commission of Ghana has begun approving local and international poll observer groups to monitor the December 7 presidential and legislative elections. The electoral commission, however, says groups affiliated with political parties would not be allowed to monitor the polls. The criteria that poll observer groups must meet before their applications are considered include the name of the poll monitoring group, the leadership and composition of the group and their experience in election observation together with their passport pictures as well as their contact information. “We have received a number of applications to observe the elections in the country,” said Eric Dzakpasu, spokesman for the electoral commission. The commission has also received a number of applications from local and international observers, as well as foreign missions and embassies, he added.
“As at the meeting we had today with the political parties, tentatively, we are talking about 400 international observers,” he said. Embassies and foreign missions have about 200 observers. CFI France, which provides assistance to the media, has about 1,000 observers, and there are about 10,000 local observers.
“Once the accreditation is granted, they can go anywhere, but they need to inform the commission where they would be concentrated and where the rest of the [observers] would be dispersed throughout the country. And once accredited, they do have access to all parts of the country, while the election is going on,” Dzakpasu added.
Full Article: Ghana Electoral Commission Approves Election Monitors.