Earlier this year, on January 9, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SDA), in separate petitions to the Electoral Commission, called for reforms regarding the voting date, which falls on Saturday, a day the church observes as holy and dedicated to God’s worship.

The church, in a few concerns raised, wants the election date of December 7 every four years changed to the 1st or 2nd of November in every election year. They consider the proposed dates viable, referencing the work of the Constitutional Review Commission in 2011 and the Electoral Reform Committee in 2015.

Given this, Odeneho Kwaku Appiah, an astute member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has appealed to the church to encourage its members to come out and vote while calling on the Electoral Commission and lawmakers to take a critical look at their petition. In an end-of-week campaign round-up posted on Facebook, COKA shared his thoughts on the matter:

“...I have also read the recent statement from the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church on December 7, which falls on Saturday, the Sabbath day. I think something should be done now to cajole them to have a change of mind to partake in the December 7 elections, which fall on Saturday. The SDA has a church strength of over 800,000 members with a youth wing population of 70% of this figure. No one should be disenfranchised because of his or her faith. Yes, the Sabbath Day holds deep spiritual significance for Adventists, but they know it was made to meet the needs of people and not the other way around.”

The former NPP Chairman believes that the church has numbers that can make significant changes in the upcoming elections.

“The SDA numbers can make a change in the 2024 elections. The country must not leave them out of the December 7 elections. While we wait for the future change of the law on December 7, I want to plead with you (SDA leadership) to please encourage your members to go and vote on December 7. Voting in elections is a civic responsibility and a Godly work.”

He, however, assured the church that all stakeholders, including political parties, have agreed to put measures in place to ensure that by the 2028 elections, the law is changed to favour all religious groups.

Meanwhile, some schools of thought suggest that the SDA church, the state, and the Electoral Commission should discuss and plan how members of the church could participate in special voting if the date is not changed.