The leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church has petitioned the Attorney-General’s office to sponsor a bill to amend the Saturday, December 7, 2024, election day, indicating that it is the Sabbath Day meant to worship God.
The Church proposed the 1st or 2nd Tuesday of November to ensure an all-inclusive democratic exercise that would not deliberately deny others from exercising their voting rights.
“It is the considered view of the Church that this bill should be sponsored by the Office of the Ministry of Justice and Attorney-General (Executive) because of its nature. Hence, the request for this meeting with the Honourable Minister in that regard.”
The Church indicated that the amendment has become necessary following its positive engagements with the EC. The church’s position stems from a proposal made by the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC) in 2011 and the Electoral Reforms Committee in 2015.
“Pursuant to the work of the Constitutional Review Commission (2011) and that of the Electoral Reform Committee (2015), particularly with references to (i) Paragraph 265 at page 193, the CRC recommended the period for elections “not later than 60 days to the installation of a new President and Parliament on January 7. (ii) Likewise, the ECRC suggested a date change from “December 7 to November 7 in Proposal 8 on pages 10 and 11,” the church stated.
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“The Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SDA) is proposing an amendment of non-entrenched Article 112(4) for Parliamentary elections to meet the period guaranteed in Article 63(2) for Presidential elections to be christened “Ghana Elections’ Date Amendment Bill.”
Meeting with the Electoral Commission
The Church, in its efforts to ensure the amendment of the December 7 election day, met with the Electoral Commission in June last year.
“In anticipation of changing the date for general elections from December 7 to the first (1st) or second (2nd) Tuesday of November, the leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church met with the Electoral Commission (EC) on Wednesday, June 7, 2023,” a portion of the petition to the AG reads.
“The Church proposed to the EC a change from the December 7 date to the 1st or 2nd Tuesday of November in a general election year. The outcome of the meeting with the EC was productive. The Commission assured the leadership of the SDA Church of its willingness to consider the proposal,” the church emphasised.
This proposition, according to the Adventist Church, “is to help deepen electoral democracy and ensure that no one is excluded from participating in the electoral process.”