Regulation and Support of Political Parties
The functions of the Electoral Commission (EC) fall under two broad categories – one directly related to elections and the other purely regulatory. Since its inception, however, the EC has
never found the right balance between the two. Somehow, directly election-relate functions such as demarcating constituency boundaries, registration of voters, managing the electoral roll, and conducting the various elections have taken precedence over the registration and regulation of political parties and election candidates. Political parties and election candidates, their campaigns, financial expenditures, and fundraising have gone largely unchecked and are not accountable to anybody. The kind of rule-based, well-regulated democratic electoral politics Ghanaians expect is largely missing. Equally absent is the statutory body that will not only regulate but more importantly build the capacity of political parties to function effectively in a consolidating democracy such as Ghana. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the non-election functions of the EC have to be hived off for a separate independent body such as a Multiparty Democracy Commission (MDC) to take over those responsibilities.
