COVID-19 Pandemic and the 2020 Elections in Ghana

Abstract

The paper explores the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on Ghana’s election 2020 which will be conducted on the 7th December 2020. The paper argues that despite the fact that the pandemic has negatively affected the 2020 elections process, it also presents political parties and the Electoral Commission the opportunity to be innovative in their activities. The study adopts a content analysis approach and depends mainly on the desk review of related literature on the topic under investigation. The study found that the possible negative impacts of the virus on the 2020 elections include: low voter turnout because of the fear of contracting the virus due to human contacts at the voting centers and postponement of the 2020 elections if the spread goes out of hand. The impacts felt already include postponement of voter registration exercise from April 2020 to June 2020 and the ban on political activities such as mass campaigns. Again, one positive impact of the virus is that it has made political parties innovative in the mobilization of voters through the use of various social media platforms. Now campaigns and other political activities are held via the internet. With such innovation, the paper proposes that the E.C. should consider online voting, postal voting, and early voting in the 2020 election as a way of reducing human conduct and overcrowding on the day of voting in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.