My first visit to the State of Georgia, in the United States of America (USA), coincided with the peak of the 2012 US General Election.
I was part of a delegation, consisting of staff of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and Ghanaian journalists on an educational tour of that part of the USA.
We lodged at Atlanta, the capital city of the State, and visited exciting and historical sites, including the Coca Cola headquarters, the Cable News Network (CNN) and the Georgia Aquarium as part of the tour.
Three days to the polls that took place on November 6, some members of the delegation including myself decided to leisure about some principal streets of the city to acclimatize ourselves to the new environment.
As we strolled along the streets of Atlanta from Hyatt Place junction, where we resided, I kept wondering if residents of the area were part of the US electoral process. I hardly found billboards and posters of aspirants of the US elections.
I was surprised that USA, one of the most vociferous proponents of Western democracy, was preparing for election in a seemingly simple way though it had attracted the attention of the whole world.
As we travelled to another part of Atlanta I asked my colleagues if they had seen billboards and posters of Mr Barrack Obama, presidential candidate of the Democrats, and Mr Mitt Romney, presidential candidate for the Republicans, the main heavy weights, who were battling for the White House, and the US presidency. My question provoked a debate on the use of billboards and posters in electioneering campaigns.
I later spoke with Dr Mark Lobstein, Director of Technical Service at the US Poultry and Egg Export Council, who conducted the delegation round important sites in Atlanta, on the US electioneering.
He explained that various candidates vying for political positions channelled their messages in the form of debates through the newspapers, television and other media networks.
Mr Lobstein said: "The use of paper and billboards is not too popular during our political campaigns. One can only find small plastic poster of favourite political candidates on the lawns in front of people's residence".
Asked what informs the decision of the electorate during voting, Mr Michael Mathew Green, Manager of Mathew Cafeteria, said most people in the USA did not depend on political party posters and billboards to make a decision on who to vote for.
The Manger of the Cafeterias said that personally he was not bordered by whoever wins election in the US.
He said ''I need to work hard to meet the taste of my customers to help boost business. It is our belief that our future and success largely depends on us and not politicians".
On the eve of November 6, the day for the US polls, I joined the Ghanaian group to visit some shops in the northern part of Georgia, and driving through the high streets, to my surprise, I only saw the message "Please remember to vote tomorrow" on an electronic billboard.
This is entirely different from what is happening in Ghana where political parties are gearing up for the December 7 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
Since the inception of multi-party democracy in Ghana in 1992, the use of billboards, posters, flyers and souvenirs depicting presidential and parliamentary candidates has become a common electioneering feature in Ghana. This is not limited to Ghana as it is a common phenomenon in other African countries.
When I returned to Ghana, I asked some people about their views on the use of billboards and posters for political campaign.
Ibrahim Mahama, 27, resident of Tamale, said he wondered why political parties should invest in the production of posters and billboards to market their candidates, and suggested that resources should be channeled into development.
Mrs Hannah Awadzi, a journalist at the GNA, commenting on the issue, said “while people in the US will vote based on views and policies, in Ghana some people vote based on looks, personality and ethnic affiliations hence the use of posters and billboards.
Dr Mark Hanson, Director of Veterinary at the MOFA, suggested that money spent on billboards and posters could be lodged into a special account for the improvement of sanitation in Ghana.
He also said resources for such electioneering method could be channeled into the agriculture sector to improve productivity.
Notwithstanding the fact that the US electioneering might be more expensive than that of any developing country, the cost of billboards and posters would have added to the expenditure.
Political parties in Ghana should emulate the US for using the media to sell their political candidates instead of billboards and posters to reduce the cost of campaigning.