Parliament on Tuesday read the amendment bill proposed to change the date of presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana from December 7 to the first Monday in November.

Speaker of Parliament, Edward Doe Adjaho said the Act presented before Parliament has been subsequently referred to the council of state for input within 30 days.

“We referred the bill to the council of state for consideration; and this house and the council of state shall render advice on the bill 30 days after receiving it,” he explained.

After that period, it will be brought back to the House to be finally gazetted.

The Electoral Commission had earlier said it was optimistic that this year's general elections will come off on November 7 as planned, contrary to concerns raised by some Members of Parliament (MPs) about the proposed date.

Some MPs have said changing the date from December 7 to November 7 might be cumbersome.

The Commission, in October 2015, announced plans to organise the general elections on November 7 instead of December 7.

The move was to enable the Commission to organize a run-off in case no presidential candidate is able to secure the 50%-plus-one vote needed for a first round victory.