National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Chairman Johnson Asiedu Nketia has called on the government to fund political parties’ one-member-one-vote internal elections through the Electoral Commission (EC), arguing that the cost of organising nationwide primaries is beyond the reach of many parties.
His comments come after the Supreme Court directed political parties to replace the delegate system used to elect presidential and parliamentary candidates with a more inclusive one-member-one-vote system, giving them one year to comply.
Speaking on PM Express on JoyNews, Asiedu Nketia said the NDC spent nearly GH¢14 million when it conducted its one-member-one-vote internal elections in 2014.
He said the party established more than 8,000 polling stations across the country and bore the cost of election materials and allowances for officials recruited by the Electoral Commission.
“The Electoral Commission didn’t contribute one cedi,” he said.
Asiedu Nketia argued that because the new electoral system broadens participation among party members, the state should support the process by allowing the EC to conduct internal elections at no cost to political parties.
“I expect that even though the system is good, since we are being compelled to help citizens exercise their civic and democratic rights, it will serve very well if you ask the state to budget for this exercise so the Electoral Commission can conduct it free of charge,” he said.
He said the EC’s involvement would significantly reduce the financial burden on political parties.
“Because that will be your biggest cost line. The EC. If they can conduct it free of charge, then it will help every political party,” he added.
Addressing concerns that state funding could encourage the formation of numerous political parties seeking public resources, Asiedu Nketia supported the establishment of a regulatory body to oversee political parties.
He said such an institution would ensure that only organisations that meet the constitutional requirements for political party status qualify for state support.
“Once that is done, then you have a body that will focus exclusively on making sure that before you certify a group as a political party, it satisfies all the conditions for a political party,” he said.
According to him, one of the requirements should be that political parties maintain active structures in more than two-thirds of the country’s districts.
Asiedu Nketia said the NDC’s experience in 2014 demonstrated both the advantages and the financial demands of the one-member-one-vote system.
He noted that the party established polling stations in electoral areas nationwide, with additional centres created in communities where electoral areas covered multiple villages.
“We ended up opening more than 8,000 polling stations,” he said.
He added that the system is considerably more expensive than delegate-based elections because of the larger number of eligible voters and ballot papers required. While delegate elections require fewer than 400,000 ballot papers, he said, one-member-one-vote primaries could require between one million and two million ballot papers.
Despite the financial implications, Asiedu Nketia said the NDC is well positioned to comply with the Supreme Court’s timeline, citing the party’s previous experience with the electoral system.
