Ghanaians go to the polls today to elect a new president and a new set of 275 Members of Parliament across the country
This election will determine the fate of 12 presidential candidates, 883 parliamentary candidates in all the 275 constituencies.
According to statistics from the Electoral Commission, 17, 027,971 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes to choose who becomes the next president of Ghana.
The election promises to be a keenly contested one as the ruling party is poised to hold onto power after winning by close to a million votes in the last election while President Mahama and NDC wants to make amends by clinching power again after serving only one term, a record unprecedented in the Fourth Republic.
The NPP does not want to become a one term government and therefore determined to go all out to win the election .On The other hand, the NDC must win the election to safeguard its future of being one of the most dominate political forces in the country.
In 2016, the NPP scored 53.56 per cent with 5, 627, 142 votes while the NDC had 44.69 per cent with 4, 694, 830 votes.
The NPP won 167 parliamentary seats whiles the NDC had 99.
Opinion Polls
Pollster, Ben Ephson on 28 November 2016 predicted 52.4% win for NDC, and 45.9% for the NPP.
Towards the 2020 polls, Ben Ephson has predicted that President Akufo-Addo will secure a “one touch” victory with 52.6 percent whiles John Mahama gets 45.7 percent.
UG Research
A research conducted by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana, Legon also indicated that 51.7 percent of voters would vote for the NPP, whiles 40.4 percent of Ghanaians will vote for the NDC.
Others election surveys have, however predicted a run-off still in favour of the NPP. There have also been suggestions that we may experience a hung parliament in the election as many voters, particularly in the NPP stronghold, have vowed to voter” skirt and blouse”
EC
In another development, the Electoral Commission has stated that it will declare the results of the election within 24 hours.
It has also assured the public that it will ensure a peaceful, timely, orderly, violent free, incidence free election.
Polling Stations for Election 2020
For the 2020 Election, The EC Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensa said the Commission has created thirty-eight thousand, six hundred and twenty-two (38,622) Polling Stations across the country.
This is some ten thousand (10,000) Polling Stations more than the 2016 Polling Stations.
Mrs Mensa said the threshold set for the Polling Stations is seven hundred and forty-nine (749) Voters per Polling Stations.
“It is important to note however that more than 70% of the Polling Stations have five hundred (500) Voters or less. We have reduced the threshold to minimize overcrowding and long queues at our Polling Stations. We have no doubt that voters will enjoy a hassle free and seamless experience at all polling stations across the country,” she added.
Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori