Andrew Appiah Ansah ’24


Electoral Commission of Ghana, Ghana

This summer I had the opportunity to work for the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana. I had worked previously for the EC of Ghana during the 2020 election and had a good time being on the forefront of the election process. My work this summer was remote with my main project being the management of the database of the Bosomtwe District in the Ashanti Region. This work was totally different from what I did during the national presidential and ministerial elections. I’ve always been interested in giving back to society in any way possible and this opportunity provided just that.

Working from Sawyer Library.

As mentioned, my main task was the database of the Bosomtwe District, but since I had no experience in such a project, my supervisor suggested that I get up to speed with a half-finished project. That project helped me see the ins and outs of working with larger databases. I learned how to gather the dates of birth of citizens who will turn 18 soon (within a six-month period) so their voter IDs would be ready for them by the time an election was being held. I also learned how to gather names of citizens who would have to renew their ID cards and citizens who had passed away or were no longer active voters (out of the country, incarcerated, etc.). I had close supervision working on this project so I had relatively little challenges. The district I worked on was Atwima Mponua in the center of the Ashanti Region. I was able to get through this project and orientation by the second week of my internship.

I then started working on the database of the Bosomtwe District. This district is one of the largest districts in the Ashanti Region and Kuntenase is the biggest town in the district. After I had a relatively smooth experience working on that town, I felt confident enough to work with less supervision for the rest of the internship period. The only issue I had working asynchronously and remotely was the fact that I couldn’t make it to all the general meetings, however my supervisor always made sure to bring me up to speed after each meeting.

Overall, I had a great experience working this summer for the EC of Ghana. I was able to see the impact I could have and did have by working closely with the government in Ghana. Working with the team in Accra has inspired me to take more political science and political economy classes. I am really grateful to the Estate of George Mead for sponsoring this internship.