The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has announced that the 2023 District Level Elections (DLE) will take place on Tuesday, December 19, 2023. These elections are held to elect new Assembly Members for the various electoral areas across the country.
The tenure of the current Assembly Members elected in 2019 is set to expire in December this year.
The EC stated that the registration of new voters will take place from September 12, 2023, to October 2, 2023, at its 268 District Offices. The Commission aims for a 60% voter turnout for this year’s DLE and has urged the media to help raise awareness and educate the public about the significance of the exercise.
The DLE will be held in all 6,272 electoral areas, with the exception of Nkoranza North and Nkoranza South in the Bono East Region. These areas did not hold elections in 2019 due to security concerns and instead conducted the elections in April 2021. Therefore, elections in these regions will not be held until 2025.
The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Mensa, assured eligible voters that the upcoming registration exercise would not be the only registration opportunity before the 2024 General Election. She also clarified that individuals who have lost their voter ID cards can request replacements at all District Registration Centers for a fee of GHC10.
The Deputy Chairman of the EC in Charge of Operations, Mr. Samuel Tettey, highlighted the steps the Commission would take to ensure high voter participation, including stakeholder engagements, awareness campaigns, and public announcements by district electoral officers.
The District Level Elections have historically experienced low voter turnout. The EC’s data indicates that voter turnout for these elections has varied over the years, with the highest being 59.3% in 1988/89 and the lowest being 29.3% in 1994. The most recent DLE in 2019 recorded a 33% voter turnout.
