Prisoners' right to vote is constitutional

Page 55: May 26, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to take immediate steps to liaise with the Ghana Prisons Service to facilitate voting by prisoners in the general election.
It said the EC must liaise with the prisons authorities to find out what was needed in terms of logistics and personnel to establish voting centres in the country’s prisons.
The Africa Co-ordinator of CHRI, Nana Oye Lithur, told the Daily Graphic that the right of prisoners to vote was not in doubt, as it was guaranteed by the Constitution, saying that what Ghanaians and the EC should focus on was how to ensure that prisoners exercised that right.
Article 42 of the Constitution provides that “every citizen of Ghana of 18 years of age or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda”.
The Constitution, by this provision and several others, does not limit the right to vote to only people outside the prisons. However, prisoners in Ghana have never exercised this right.
Extending the constitutional right to vote to citizens who have fallen foul of the law has recently become an issue of debate.
Nana Lithur said the security concerns raised by the EC were without basis because “I have seen doctors and other professionals attending to prisoners in prison without any problem”.
She said if the EC was unwilling to organise voting in the prisons, “we may have to go court to seek an interpretation of the law”.
Nana Lithur said the EC should draw up a comprehensive plan to bring the idea of prisoners voting in Ghana to fruition.
“If the EC takes these steps, then it will demonstrate its commitment to ensure that Ghanaians who are entitled and eligible to vote exercise their franchise,” she said.
She said prisoners voting in Ghana would not be a new phenomenon, since prisoners voted in South Africa.
“We, as Ghanaians, must help develop the human rights culture in respect of people’s civil and political rights. These rights are clearly spelt out in the Constitution and we only need to operationalise them,” she said.
Nana Lithur said it would be a progressive step to facilitate the process for prisoners to vote in elections in the country, adding that doing so would not affect the EC’s budget in terms of cost and security.
The Minister of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Nana Obiri Boahen, had, on May 13, 2008, indicated that there was no law in the country that barred prisoners from voting.
“Even if there were any such law, that would be against the fundamental rights of people,” he added.
He was of the view that the EC had not taken up the responsibility to ensure the enjoyment of that right by prisoners by putting in place the right administrative systems and measures.
The Chairman of the EC, Dr Afari-Gyan, said although it was not the commission’s intention to disenfranchise anyone, it did not, by convention, set up polling stations in certain places like the prisons.
His main concerns were the safety of the staff of the EC and clarity on the legal provisions for prisoners to vote.
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