The preparations include voters registration, confirmation of presidential and parliamentary candidates and deployment of voting materials.

Speaking with the Daily Graphic on the fringes of a news conference in Accra yesterday, Mr Meszerics said the mission was, therefore, hopeful that the elections would be inclusive, transparent and reliable.

On the challenges that characterised the special voting last Thursday, he said the mission was satisfied with the steps taken to conduct it again yesterday.

Peaceful elections

Mr Meszerics said the EU Election Observation Mission was confident that Ghana would once again conduct peaceful and successful elections to further entrench its democracy.

He said the Accra Declaration, in which the seven presidential candidates had committed themselves to peaceful elections, was a big plus.

He urged Ghanaians to participate in the elections and conduct themselves in a peaceful manner.

EU election observation

The EU has, since November 6, 2016, deployed 24 long-term election observers who have monitored voters registration, nomination of presidential and parliamentary candidates and the deployment of voting materials

 Consistent with its tradition, the EU yesterday deployed 32 short-term observers to all the 10 regions to monitor the presidential and parliamentary elections on December 7.

Mr Meszerics, who is a member of the European Parliament, said the long- and short-term observers would be reinforced during and after the elections by seven members of the European Parliament and 16 representatives of the EU, as well as other embassies in Ghana.

He said the EU was invited by the Ghanaian authorities and was assessing all aspects of the entire electoral process, including the legal framework, the performance of the election administration, voters registration, candidates’ nomination, respect for fundamental freedoms, access to and conduct of the media, voting, the counting and transmission of results, as well as the post-election period.

Activities

Mr Meszerics said the 32 short-term observers would concentrate on procedures and processes at the polling stations and the counting centres on and after election day.

He said the mission would present a preliminary statement on its findings two days after the elections, adding that after two months, the mission would present a comprehensive report, including recommendations to the relevant authorities.

“The EU mission is bound by a code of conduct which requires strict neutrality and non-interference. It undertakes its work in accordance with the declaration of principles for international election observation,” he said.