Ghana Electoral Commission (EC) says it has shifted its ‘timeline’ for the declaration of the winner of 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary election in the country.
This, according to the commission, is to enable proper collation of results at the constituency and regional collation centres across the country.
“…the EC will extend its intended timeline for declaring the 2020 presidential election results. The new timeline will be communicated shortly,” the commission disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday.
No exact time and date was announced.
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Major candidates in the presidential poll are the incumbent President, Nana Akufo-Addo and John Mahama. While Akufo-Addo contested for re-election under the NPP, Mahama, a former president remains the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The process of declaring a winner starts from the polling units where votes are counted and sent to their respective constituency collation centres. The constituency collation centre collates all presidential results from its polling stations and shares with the regional collation centres.
From the regional collation centres, all presidential results from the constituencies are collated and faxed to the national collation centre.
The presidential results are then collated, certified and publicly announced by the chairperson, who also serves as the returning officer.
Moreover, a presidential winner in Ghana must obtain not less than 50 per cent plus one of the total valid votes cast.
However, the commission emphasised the decision was to ensure the polling process is transparent and credible.
“…to ensure that the declared presidential results are 100 per cent accurate and reflective of the will of the people, the commission entreats the public and all stakeholders to exercise patience as the collation process continues in the presence of political party agents and election observers,” it added.
Beyond the explanation, the public was reminded of the constitutional mandate of the electoral commission as the only body empowered to declare results of the presidential and parliamentary election.
But reports have shown that at least 28 incumbent legislators under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lost their seats to the opposition candidates.
Olugbenga heads the Investigations Desk at The ICIR. Do you have a scoop? Shoot him an email at [email protected]. Twitter Handle: @OluAdanikin