The Electoral Commission (EC) has declared its preparedness to oversee the forthcoming district-level elections across more than 38,000 polling stations nationwide.

This commitment extends to conflict-prone areas such as Bawku in the Upper East Region and Nkwanta in the Oti Region.

The Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services, Dr Bossman Asare, affirmed that the Commission has received assurances from all security services, ensuring sufficient protection on the day of the elections.

"We are not experts when it comes to security. We work with the Ghana police service under the Election Security Task Force. And as we speak now, we haven't received information to the effect that we cannot have elections in the Oti area. No information like that has come out and come Tuesday, all the 38,315 polling stations are going to have the elections... including conflict areas."

In an interview on JoyNews, Dr. Bossman Asare emphasized that the Electoral Commission will only reconsider its decision if presented with a report that contradicts their current stance.

"We've never had any information to the contrary. If we hear the information that let's say Bawku, if we hear anything or we receive any credible information to that effect, we are going to advise ourselves," he added.

In the meantime, the Electoral Commission has established an ambitious goal of achieving a 60% voter turnout in various districts. This target surpasses the expectations set by the Local Government Ministry, which is aiming for a 50% voter turnout.

"So we are also looking at something between 50 to 60%. And as a commission we we think that many Ghanaians are interested in the process and the measures we've also put in place should be able to ensure that people come out in the numbers" he explained.

According to Section six of the Local Governance Act 2016 (Act 936), as amended by Act 940, district-level elections (DLEs) in Ghana are scheduled every four years, occurring a year prior to Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Since 1988, Ghana has conducted eight consecutive local-level elections to enhance citizen participation.

The Electoral Commission (EC) initiated the nomination process for the district-level elections in November of the current year. Aspiring candidates are required to obtain nomination forms from the Electoral Commission's district offices.

The elections are slated to take place in 6,272 electoral areas across 259 districts out of a total of 261. Notably, Nkoranza North and South in the Bono East regions will not have elections in 2023, as polls were conducted in April 2020, with the next scheduled for both districts in 2025.

As outlined in the EC's program of activities for the 2023 DLEs, the nomination period for candidates ran from November 16 to 17. The notice of poll for the elections was posted from November 29 to December 4, 2023. A platform for aspirants to communicate their messages to the electorate was available from December 1 to 14, 2023, with the election scheduled for Tuesday, December 19, 2023.