The presidential candidate of the Progressive Peoples Party says the Electoral Commission must do away with political party agents most of who foment trouble during elections. Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom said the Electoral Commission can by itself secure the ballots during election time and only allow political party representatives access to the polling area during counting. He told Joy News’ Dzifa Bampoh that is “international best practice” which will go a long way to east the tension that comes along with elections. When reminded that the agents play a significant role in protecting the sanctity of the elections by being vigilant, Dr. Nduom said some of the agents only end up becoming vigilantes at the polling centre. He said the EC must also have the power to annul results of an election from a particular polling area if the number of votes casts exceeds the number of registered voters. He said as the country clamours for strong institution, this is the time for the Electoral Commission to assert itself as an independent institution. But his suggestions have been described as unrealistic, at least for now. A Political analyst with the University of Ghana, Dr Michael Whyte Kpessah said whilst political parties are encouraged to make suggestions that will sanitize the election process in Ghana, this proposition is highly “questionable”. He said the EC in exercising its autonomy have agreed to have the agents around to also witness the process from voting to counting. Whyte Kpessah said neither the EC nor the PPP has proffered any evidence to suggest that these agents are the ones who foment trouble during elections and will be out of place to blacklist them. He said Ghana’s electoral system is still evolving and until such a time that we can trust the various institutions mandated to run elections, the political party polling agents must be tolerated. John Larvie of CODEO said in the future the proposal of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom can be accepted. He said after the New Patriotic Party described the 1992 elections as a “Stolen Verdict” the EC decided to have the polling agents to be part of the election process and to involve all political parties. He said as the country matures in its electoral system it can begin to incorporate some of these new suggestions.