Politics in this new millennium is nothing like the days of Kwame Nkrumah when the country attained independence. Though you'd have to still trek long distances over land and river to canvass for votes, you cannot ignore the burgeoning online population you're unlikely to meet at their door or community center or village square and who would also not show at your rally. JOY NEWS' Marian Toure has been assessing how well the political parties are courting the electorate in cyberspace for the 2012 election. With the political season gaining momentum, so is the political campaign shifting gears a notch higher. With crucial votes to canvas and win, all the political parties have dedicated websites to help them attract and maintain audience. Let’s take a look at the campaign website for some of the political parties in the country –the ruling NDC, opposition NPP, the Nkrumahist CPP, Papa Kwesi Nduom’s PPP and the PNC show the websites as natural extensions of their national campaign. The website for the ruling NDC [http://www.johnmahama.org/] has on its banner “A better Ghana. Jobs. Stability. Development” The website carries almost all the activities of the flagbearer. It also carries a photo of the late former president Atta Mills as An African Icon with a countdown clock accurately counting down the days to the elections, it’s a bit like shooting yourself in the foot if the most up-to-date event on the website whilst seeking re-election is October 5th? A whole week ago? One noticeable thing on the website however is that, it has the party campaign activities as well as President Mahama’s national assignments side by side, which questions what the president’s official website is meant for or is President Mahama’s campaign being funded by the presidency? The NPP presidential candidate’s campaign website[http://akufoaddo2012.com/] has as its banner, “Change now. Move Ghana Forward. Victory 2012”. It highlights what they say the incumbent NDC has lied about which is presented in an article with a very sarcastic headline: “Goats Take Over The Pwalugu Tomato Factory NDC Claims To Have Revived”. Scroll to the bottom of the page and there’s a list of campaign songs to get you fired up. The PPP’s page (http://www.pppghana.org/)however is a little disappointing considering Papa Kwesi Nduom’s history with social media. It’s a bit bare but carries most of the party’s activities for the campaign season. The CPP and PNC websites however do not look like those of parties in strong contention to win over anyone apart from the already existing party supporters. The parties however have a visible presence on facebook, twitter and youtube and a collective following of several million people across the world. So if the ballots will be cast on line what do you think the scores will be based on their presence and managing of their websites?