The Supreme Court has dismantled the delegate system, ordering all political parties to throw their internal polls open to every registered card-bearing member.
In a 5-2 majority ruling on Wednesday, the court upheld a challenge brought by three senior politicians who argued that confining votes to a select few was unconstitutional.
The decision means that from now on, parties must open their internal elections, from constituency races to presidential primaries to all card-bearing members.
The ruling directly impacts the NDC and NPP, both of which have long relied on delegate colleges.
They now face a massive overhaul of their electoral processes to accommodate potentially millions of voters.
The Attorney-General backed the plaintiffs, while two justices dissented. The court’s full reasoning will be published in its written judgment.
However, policy analysts have sounded a note of caution.
IMANI Africa warned that expanding the voter base without tackling money politics could simply drive up the cost of campaigns, arguing that cash, not delegate numbers, is the real threat to internal democracy.
