The Seventh-day Adventist Church is calling for an amendment to the date of general elections in Ghana.
General elections are held on the constitutionally mandated date of December 7 every four years.
In 1996, the date fell on a Saturday and disenfranchised many Adventists who chose not to go to the polls on the biblical Sabbath.
The 2024 elections will also fall on a Saturday, and the church leaders are pushing for a date change to ensure that general elections are no longer held on any religious day of worship in Ghana.
The church proposes moving the elections to the first or second Tuesday of November to accommodate inclusive democracy.
The church, in its petition to the Electoral Commission (EC), said the elections would have to be moved from the conventional December 7 because the date falls on a Saturday, which will conflict with Sabbath, a holy day dedicated to the worship of God.
It said "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."
“The Church proposed to the EC a change from the December 7 date to the 1st or 2nd Tuesday of November in a general elections’ year.”
The Women’s Ministry Director at the Seventh-day Adventist Church Southern Ghana Union Conference, Solace Asafo in an interview with Joy News stated that it is the hope of the church that elections will not be held on any religious day in Ghana.