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ABSTRACT
Ghana passed yet another democratic test when it conducted what is widely described as a very
successful elections to choose a new President and 275 members of parliament during its 2016
General Elections. From the tech-based systems deployed by media houses that enabled their
collation and projections of results, through the Electoral Commission’s own challenges with same,
to how political parties tracked their numbers before the final and official declaration, a major
feature of Ghana’s 2016 poll was how technology took center stage of the entire democratic process
by almost every key stakeholder, citizens inclusive. This publication, discusses some of the ways
technology and New Media tools impacted Ghana's Elections 2016; reveals, also, how the seeming
success of the role of technology has not come without its own difficulties. This publication touches
on some key highlights of how various stakeholders leveraged technologies to deliver a free and fair
Ghana Elections 2016.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER PAGE
Introduction 1
Social Media Influence and Smarter Campaigns 2
Policing the Elections 3
Voter Education and the Electoral Process 3
Traditional Media meets New Media 6
Speed, Credibility and the Business of News 7
Conclusion 7
Visit www.penplusbytes.org
Email: [email protected]
1
Introduction
Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary elections has further bolstered the country’s
democratic credentials as a beacon on the political landmark of the African continent. The electoral
process and its attendant characteristics which saw the choice of a new President and 275
parliamentarians fell nothing short of intriguing considering the crucial role played by the adoption
of various technologies.
From the tech-based systems deployed by media houses that enabled their collation and projections
of results, through the Electoral Commission’s engagement with citizens via social media, to how
political parties tracked their numbers before the final and official declaration, and with thousands
of election observers using tech to observe and report happenings from all over Ghana; technology
took center stage of the entire democratic process by almost every key stakeholder, citizens
inclusive.
The seeming success of the role of technology did not come without its own difficulties and the
details of this took centre stage at the Technology Salon event hosted by Penplusbytes at the New
Media Hub on December 20, 2016; bringing together stakeholders such as the USAID, Meltwater
Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), Coalition of Democratic Elections Observers (CODEO),
Blogging Ghana, Multimedia Ghana Limited, MG Digital Group, Ashesi University and the US
Embassy in Ghana to discuss the extent to which technology changed the face of Ghana’s 2016
General elections including a discussion on challenges and successes.
The post elections discourse which also featured various elections stakeholder organisations who
were involved at different levels of the electoral process such as the Ghana Police Service who
played key roles as part of the National Elections Security Task Force, the Electoral Commission of
Ghana (EC), the media and Civil society, pointed to some of the ways technology significantly
changed the face of the race for the presidency and parliamentary seats over time. These
discussions among others formed the basis of this publication.
2
Social Media Influence and Smarter Campaigns
Few elections back, campaigns were markedly different. Political parties and their candidates before
now, relied on polls for the needed insights on whether or not their messages resonate well with
citizens and what they needed to change about their messages.
Social media has, however, altered the way candidates engage with citizens and constituents.
Candidates, during Ghana’s elections less than a decade ago, when both Facebook and Twitter had
barely started, did not interact directly with the public via social media, and there sure wasn’t as
many outlets for voters (citizens) to share and debate on political issues.
“Elections are not won on social media”. Really? Well, that had in previous seasons been the mantra
of opponents but at the start of 2016, it had long become obvious that parties and their candidates
who would commit a lot more to technology, were going to reach a significant number of potential
voters.
Today, social media gives candidates a direct line of communication with Ghanaians and this was
evidenced by the strategies of political parties, especially the then incumbent National Democratic
Congress (NDC) and opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), who invested a lot more time and other
resources to ensuring their candidates and campaign messages reached the ever growing numbers
of Ghanaians online. That was a positive change.
Social media remains an uncontrolled, democratic space which allows individuals to share and
spread opinions that may or may not necessarily be factual and can change the public’s view of a
candidate overnight. The “Kalyppo Challenge” (See: Akufo-Addo Kalyppo challenge: Strange Kalyppo
selfies hit social media - http://ow.ly/xqbp308pkZw) remains one such twists that stuck in favour of
the NPP.
3
Simply put, parties and their candidates that had little-to-no technology base and social media
presence appeared outdated and irrelevant to the electoral race.
One of the luxuries of the rise in big data and analytics is the opportunity it gave candidates in better
understanding of what was working for them and what wasn’t during their campaigns. It helped the
parties in becoming more effective in the design and dissemination of their messages which were
now more tailored to garner the votes, funds or public opinion.
Among the various political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) exhibited better understanding of
new technologies, connecting with voters to run a successful campaign. The party mastered social
media engagement during the 2016 campaign; deploying what the media, civil society, academia,
technologists and International organisations, described as an impressive tech mechanism that
allowed them to call almost accurately, the elections outcome in their favour. (See: Penplusbytes’
3RD GOVERNANCE SOCIAL MEDIA INDEX REPORT 2016 - http://ow.ly/WfQS308pofR). This goes
without saying that if a political party could master such sophistication, then perhaps Ghana’s
Electoral Commission can only do better with its own tech strategies going forward to avoid setbacks
like that which affected its electronic transmission systems.
Policing the Elections
Nowadays, social media has a place in practically everything. Could this explain what appeared to be
the dramatic U-turn from an earlier threat to shut down social media prior to and during the
elections by the Ghana Police Service? (See: Ghana Police Chief Criticized over Proposed Social Media
Ban - http://ow.ly/m1lX308pnW2) Probably so. The general source of concern for the security
service and other stakeholders was with how the ills of social media could be tamed to ensure the
tool was used responsibly by citizens and not to spread false news and other sensitive information
that would heighten tension and security concerns. Rather than an outright ban, the Police Service
took caution which eventually fed into a strategy on how to better use technology to police the
process successfully.
Quite apart from the more obvious benefits in enhancing engagements between candidates and
their followers (voters) with campaigns and sharing political views, the Ghana Police Service
remained one of the key state institutions that appeared to have not only found a new love in the
general application of social media tools but also partnered with organisations such as Penplusbytes
and Blogging Ghana’s “Ghana Decides project” to deploy an effective and efficient Social media
Tracking Centre that monitored online activities and issues around elections, picking up, in real time,
posts and comments that had security implications and alerted authorities for swift action to be
taken which helped in policing the entire electoral process.
Voter Education and the Electoral Process
Prior to the 2016 general elections, Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) found itself in a credibility
dogfight with some political parties, media and civil society groups over its perceived unfriendly
posture; a situation which became untenable after the special voting exercise on December 1, 2016.
The Commission also did very little to improve its already battered image from the barrage of
criticisms over its management of the elections in 2012 which had to be settled by Ghana’s Supreme
Court.
4
Having managed the situation to deliver yet another incident free elections, the Electoral
Commission describes the 2016 polls as one of the best organised in Ghana’s history and the fulcrum
of their claim includes the successful deployment of technology and new media tools for various
activities before, during and after the elections.
In terms of the general application of tech and social media in elections in Ghana, many key
stakeholders predicted what it described as “a brutal use of social media”. With the inevitable
staring them in the face, the Electoral Commission’s preparatory response was a decision to change
the narrative on their perceived lack of interest in new media tools to alter public views about its
work, commitment to be a transparent, free and fair elections. This, the Commission did by adopting
social media interactions as a key strategy.
Though challenged by the “incessant” hack attempts on its website and the malfunctioning of the
electronic transmission system, the EC leveraged on social media to deliver a very effective voter
education campaign with a well-received video education series on the voting and electoral
processes, sharing updates on its Twitter (@ECGhanaOfficial) and Facebook account with swift and
timely responses to queries coming from citizens and other stakeholders online.
Quite apart from the Electoral Commission, civil society groups and elections observer Missions –
local and international including Ghana’s Coalition of Local Observers (CODEO) and the National
Democratic Institute (NDI) also monitored the general conduct of the polls by engaging with citizens
through Twitter and other social media platforms.
5
Penplusbytes, as a civic tech organization, developed several platforms including a Social Media
Tracking Centre (SMTC) that supported a free and fair Ghana 2016 elections. The organisation fact-
checked political campaigns and collated data from social media and SMS reports to track election
irregularities, fraud and outbreaks of violence. These information, collected in real time, were shared
with the Electoral Commission and the National Elections Security Task Force through Embeds
stationed at the EC and the Ghana Police Service Headquarters tasked to manage the effective
correspondence between the organisation and their partners which yielded more rapid response.
Penplusbytes’ embeds at the Electoral Commission, for instance, formed the nucleus of the EC’s
social media management team whose work on Facebook and Twitter particularly received
widespread commendation.
Busy minds at work at the Social Media Tracking Centre
6
Traditional Media meets New Media
It is abundantly clear to candidates, political party activists and indeed, the independent Electoral
Commission that in the thick of campaigning, absolutely nothing is off limits. From candidates’
hidden past to activities of ‘innocent’ family members, the media’s lenses are always fixed on them.
The EC generated much interest on social media this past election than any other and comes as little
surprise that there was a commensurate leap in interest in the use of social media by all the major
stakeholders including the political parties, their candidates and followers, and the media.
Expectedly, the interest generated a fierce competition on virtual space which in turn birthed some
ingenuity and innovations on ways to cover the process all in their attempt to establish themselves
as the most credible go-to news sources of information for citizens serving the news in real time and
on-the-go.
Beyond trademark writing and posting styles as well as hashtag use, many media outlets, as part of
their strategies to court maximum interest and following, and to better engage their online audience
before, during and after the elections, adopted various Ghana elections themed account name
prefixes on social media especially on Twitter as further indication of what their topmost priority
issue within the period was. This phenomenon appeared to have contributed to a surge in the
general appeal in the number of followers of media/news entities on social media.
Joy FM’s Twitter account is prefixed by #ElectionHQ, Citi FM’s had #GhElections, Starrfm had
#EIBElectionHub and TV3 had #ElectionCommand. These accounts unsurprisingly were amongst the
best performing media entities on social media with the most up-to-date, interactive and best
followed as revealed in the findings presented in this report. See: 3rd Quarter Social Media Index
Report (http://penplusbytes.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/3rd-Quarter-Social-Media-
Index-Report-October-2016.pdf)
Radio stations with online news portals also set up dedicated pages for the monitoring and tracking
of electoral results based on which some stations called the results of the elections up ahead of the
EC’s official announcement.
Joy FM is one of many radio stations which called the elections after an independent collation process
7
Speed, Credibility and the Business of News
Whiles the media’s close monitoring of the EC’s and candidate’s activities was commendable for
enhancing transparency of the electoral process, it did not come without its attendant challenges to
which efforts have to be made to minimize in future exercise.
The many positives notwithstanding, the seeming competition among media entities to be first at
the news and on social media saw a surge in sensationalism and this took a tow on the accuracy of
the kinds of information put out by the media in many instances.
Going forward, the media perhaps must place a lot more premium on their credibility in the eyes of
the consuming public rather than the urge to be first at putting out. The quality of media brands is
subject to the accuracy of the information put out and not the speed.
Forecasting on elections coverage in Ghana, there is enough indication from the experiences of the
last elections that media organisations could consider commercializing their coverage of Ghana
Elections 2020. Media houses could leverage the interest that Ghanaian elections court on multiple
platforms and start selling its election themed programmes. The challenge anticipated however is
with how media organisations can maintain fairness and credibility and not be subdued by the
pressures of sponsors to skew elections reportage.
Conclusion
There is enough evidence to conclude that there is absolutely no escaping from technology’s
influence on elections in Ghana.
Ghana may not necessarily be entertaining the possibilities of e-voting just yet but the successful
deployment of tech tools during the 2016 general elections by various stakeholders recorded varying
degrees of impact on various aspects of the exercise, creating a credible basis to further enhance
civic participation and the democratic credentials.
Many countries the world over have incorporated new technologies into elections – from voter
registration exercises to actual casting and counting of ballots although others carry on with the pen
and paper tradition.
Having experimented with technologies in certain aspects of the electoral process, perhaps it is time
for Ghana to explore other areas such as an option for online voter registration to boost electoral
participation among its more youthful and tech savvy citizens. This would also ensure a more
accurate voter register with less data-entry mistakes as compared to manual registrations with pen
and paper.
The Electoral Commission’s adoption of a mechanism to electronically transmit election results from
locations to the National Collation Centre is laudable as it is essential to enhancing transparency and
positively altering public perception of the Commission’s credibility.
As young a democracy that Ghana has, relatively, the country’s democratic stature ranks among the
best in Africa and the world, hence the need to safeguard these gains and build on it. This, from all
indications by elections stakeholders remain a priority.