The Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, Madam Jean Mensa, has proposed the date for both Presidential and Parliamentary elections, be moved from December 7 to November 7.
Jean Mensa is said to have proposed during an Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) meeting held on Monday, January 22.
The EC also proposed, at the meeting, that the day of election be declared a holiday.
Justifying the proposal, the EC Chairperson is said to have explained that declaring the election day as a national holiday would enhance civic engagement and contribute to the cultivation of a more robust democratic culture.
A recent proposal for changing the election date has come from the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
In a petition to the Electoral Commission and the Attorney General, the church said that the December 7, 2024 voting day, which falls on a Saturday, conflicts with the Sabbath—a holy day they dedicate to the worship of God.
The church is therefore recommending the adoption of “the first (1st) or second (2nd) Tuesday of November” as the new date for Ghana’s general elections, seeking codification to ensure Adventists’ freedom to worship.