The Electoral Commission (EC) continued to enjoy its independence and autonomy as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. The government has fulfilled its commitment to fully funding the activities of the Commission. In 2011, the EC received its full budgetary allocation of GHC 109, 200,000.00. The Electoral Commission (EC) successfully undertook the following activities: • conducted local government elections in the Volta, Upper East, Ashanti, Northern and Greater Accra regions. • supervised the elections of flag bearers and some MPs of the two major political parties (National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP)) for the 2012 presidential and parliamentary elections. 2.3.1 Internal Party Democracies Political parties in Ghana continue to grapple with weak organizational structures of internal democracies. This was very evident in: • The conduct of party primaries where there was a lot of acrimony among contestants and their supporters and this sometimes resulted in violence; • Resolution of internal party conflicts. Failure of party members to utilize internal party mechanisms to resolve disputes and disagreements. The primaries of the political parties conducted in 2011, however, showed some improvement in their organizational structures. There was a conscious effort to ensure that the process was more democratic. Thus, unlike the 2007 primaries, the number of violent acts was far lower in the 2011 event. 2.3.2 Party Financing Sixth Annual APRM Progress Report: January – December 2011 8