Referendum: Floating Voters urge Postponement, call for more Public Education

A group seeking to represent the interests of neutral or non-politically aligned voters in Ghana – Floating Voters Association (FVA) has called for the postponement of the December 17, 2019 referendum so as to ensure proper public education.

According to the group, the date set aside for the referendum is “too short”. They argued also that many Ghanaians do not fully understand the exercise or the implications of entire process. 

“Although it is good to strengthen our democracy, the date set aside for this national exercise is too short and as of now most Ghanaians have no proper understanding of the referendum why they should vote Yes or No,” they stated. 

Airing their view via a press statement released today, and copied to ghananewsonline.com.gh, the FVA pointed out that proper education has not been conducted on the December 17 referendum because the government has failed to resource the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to enable them sensitize the public.

The group noted that, the sensitive nature of the referendum on local governance makes it improper to vote purely on stances the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) have taken.

They argued that “it will be better for us as a country if this two political parties [withdraw] their [stances] and allow the ordinary Ghanaian to make their own decision without any political influence”.

The FVA therefore urged the government to postpone the referendum “to allow proper education to go down well with the citizens so that Ghanaians can understand the benefit of voting Yes or No.”

Source: Jonas Danquah || ghananewsonline.com.gh