General Right to Vote
Constitution
(1992)

• Section 42 states: "Every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years of age or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda."

Specific Inclusion of People with Disabilities
Constitution
(1992)

• Section 29 states...
• Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster parents and to participate in social, creative or recreational activities
• A disabled person shall not be subjected to different treatment in respect of his residence other than that required by his condition or by the improvement which he may derive from the treatment.
• If the stay of a disabled person in a specialized establishment is indispensable, the environment and living conditions there shall be as close as possible to those of the normal life of a person of his age.
• Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive, or degrading nature.
• In any judicial proceedings in which a disabled person is a party the legal procedure applied shall take his physical and mental condition into account.
• As far as practicable, every place to which the public have access shall have appropriate facilities for disabled persons.
• Special incentives shall be given to disabled persons engaged in business and also to business organizations that employ disabled persons in significant numbers.
• Parliament shall enact such laws as are necessary to ensure the enforcement of the provisions of this article.
• Section 37, subsection (2) states, “The State shall enact appropriate laws to ensure...(b) the protection and promotion of all other basic human rights and freedoms, including the rights of the disabled, the aged...”

Exclusion Based on Intellectual Disability
Constitution
(1992)

• Section 42 states: "Every citizen of Ghana of eighteen years of age or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda."
• Section 62 states, “A person shall not be qualified for election as the President of Ghana unless...(c) he is a person who is otherwise qualified to be elected a Member of Parliament...”
• Section 94, subsection (2) states, “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he...(b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared...(ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana.”

Electoral Law
Representation of the People Act
(1992, last amended 2006)

• Section 7, subsection (1) states, “A person qualifies to be registered as a voter if...(b) he is of sound mind.”
• Section 9, subsection (2) states, “A person shall not be qualified to be a member of Parliament if he...(b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared...(ii) to be of sound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana.”

Presidential Elections Law
(1992)

• Section 1, subsection 92) states, “A person is not qualified to be a candidate for the office of President of Ghana if he...(b) has been adjudged or otherwise declared...(ii) to be of unsound mind or is detained as a criminal lunatic under any law in force in Ghana.”

Voting Manuals
Voter Registration Official’s Manual
(1995)

• Page 9 states, “Only people of sound mind can register as voters. The law requires that a voter be able to distinguish between right and wrong and understand the choices put before them on a ballot. People who have been committed to an asylum or judged criminally insane are not eligible to register.”

Exclusion Based on Physical Disability
Constitution
(1992)

• Section 9, subsection (2) states, “Except as provide in article 7 of this Constitution, a person shall not be registered as a citizen of Ghana unless at the time of his application for registration he is able to speak and understand an indigenous language of Ghana.”

Voter Assistance
Constitution
(1992)

• Section 29, subsection (6) states, “As far as practicable, every place to which the public has access shall have the appropriate facilities for disabled persons.”

Electoral Law
Public Elections Regulations
(1996)

• Section 27, subsection (2) states, “The presiding officer shall regulate the number of voters to be admitted to the polling station at each time, and shall exclude all other persons except...(e) persons accompanying voters who are blind or otherwise physically incapacitated.”
• Section 32 states, “(1) The presiding officer, on the application of a voter who is incapacitated because of blindness or other physical cause from voting in the manner directed in these regulations, shall permit the voter to be assisted by a person of his own choice. (2) When he accedes to the request for a voter under sub-regulation (1), the presiding officer shall record in the register opposite the name of the voter the fact that the voter was assisted and the reason for assistance.”
• Section 31, subsection (4) states, “A person who has undertaken to assist - (a) a blind voter to vote; or (b) a voter who is incapacitated by any other physical cause to vote, shall not communicate at any time to another person information as to the candidate for whom that disabled voter intends to vote or has voted, or as to the number, if any on the ballot paper given for the use of the disabled voter.”

Off-Site Voting
Electoral Law
Public Elections Regulations
(1996)

• Section 23, subsection (1) states, “A registered voter who, because of ill-health or absence from his constituency, will be unable to present himself to vote on polling day may, not less than fourteen days before the poll in the constituency where he is registered, apply to the returning officer of the constituency where he is registered or to any representative of the Commission for his name to be entered on the proxy list.”
• Section 23, subsections (2) - (10) detail the procedures for voting by proxy.

• Constitution - http://www.politicsresources.net/docs/ghanaconst.pdf
• Electoral Law - http://www.ec.gov.gh/userfiles/file/presidential_parliamentary_elections_laws.pdf
• Voter Registration Official’s Manual - http://aceproject.org/ero-en/topics/voter-registration/vrx_o003.pdf/view