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On December 9, 2016, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission delivered the news Ghanaians had been waiting over a year for, by announcing who would become the next president of the country.
While much attention had been given to the figures she announced for the valid votes, Pulse.com.gh has been looking at those votes that didn’t count.
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Out of the total 10,781,609 votes cast on Election day, 166,248 of them were rejected. The rejected ballots figure for this year’s elections represent 1.45 percent of the total number of votes.
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There are a number of reasons why a ballot would be rejected. They include thumb printing on more than one candidate, soiling the ballot paper and not having a stamped ballot paper.
While 166,000 invalid votes may seem like a huge number, it would bring some amount of comfort to the electoral management body. That is because it represents a significant reduction (85,472) compared to previous elections.
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In the 2012 elections, rejected ballots made up 251,720; representing 2.3 percent of total votes. In 2008, the percentage was even higher; constituting 2.4 percent of votes.
So how did the EC manage to reduce it this time round?
The EC instituted a number of fairly simple measures. To begin with, the sale of alcohol within 5000 from a polling station was prohibited. This was to ensure that electorates were not intoxicated before they turned up to the polls.
The colour of the indelible ink was also made different from that of the thumb print pad. The latter was black while the former was green. This was to ensure that any stain from the indelible ink was easily recognised and not hence ensuring that the counting agents only took into account the black thumbprint.
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The squares in which the voter was supposed to thumbprint were also made larger to accommodate larger thumbs and prevent the print from crossing into that of another candidate.
The alteration the design of the ballot paper also ensured that the space between the candidates were thicker black lines that was seen in previous elections.
There was tissue paper provided at each voting booth so that voters could wipe away the ink before folding the ballot paper. The little finger also has to be wiped after it had been dipped into the indelible ink.
During counting of ballots, EC officials were also mandated to wear gloves to ensure that they did not contribute to the soiling of ballots.