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For a candidate to win a presidential election in Ghana, that candidate must obtain more than 50 percent of the total valid votes cast, according to article 63 (3) of the 1992 constitution.
It establishes that a person shall not be elected president of Ghana unless in the presidential election the number of votes cast in his favor is greater than 50% of the total number of valid votes cast in the election.
Furthermore, articles 63 (4) and 63 (5) ensured that when there were more than two candidates in a presidential election and no candidate obtained more than 50 percent of the valid votes cast, there would be a second election after 21 days of the election. previous election for the two candidates with the highest number of votes to determine the winner.
Winner not determined on a regional basis
From the above, a winner in Ghana’s presidential elections is not determined based on the majority of regions won.
The electoral districts and regional boundaries in Ghana are such that the total number of registered voters in each region is different.
Some constituencies and some regions have more total registered voters than others.
In some cases, it takes a combination of total registered voters from two, three, or four regions to match a region.
A similar feature is with electoral districts, where a combination of two, three, or four electoral districts had to be made to match up to one electoral district in some cases.
This means that a political party may win majority seats in Parliament, but may not win the presidency when all electoral district results are combined at the national level.
The Electoral Commission (EC) had as of Wednesday morning [December 9, 2020] published certified results from seven regions.
A total of the results for the seven regions are as follows:
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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (CN) – 1,500,310
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John Dramani Mahama (NDC) – 1,997,450
In those seven regions, NDC’s John Dramani Mahama won in three regions: Oti, Volta and Upper West and NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo won in four regions in Bono, Ahafo, Central and North East.
Even with four regional victories out of the seven at Akufo-Addo, John Dramani Mahama had more accumulated votes than 1,997,450 of the seven regions than Akufo-Addo, who won four regions out of the seven with 1,500,310.
Ashanti interim results
Interim presidential results released by the EC’s Ashanti regional office from its collection center in Kumasi, but not yet nationally certified, show that the nuclear power plant’s Akufo-Addo had 1,795,824 votes against NDC Mahama’s 653,149.
The Ashanti region results, if certified by the EC presidential election return officer, will see Akufo-Addo overtake Mahama and go ahead with:
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Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (CN) – 3,296,134
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John Dramani Maham (NDC) – 2,650,599
Example of Oti and Volta
From the certified results, the total votes for NDC’s John Dramani Mahama in the Volta and Oti regions combined is 787,529.
Volta is only 606.508 while Oti is only 181.021.
In the Ashanti region, the total votes for John Mahama of the NDC is 653,149, indicating that even though he lost in the Ashanti region, the votes he got in Ashanti are far more than those of Volta.
East Bond
The EC Regional Director of Bono East has also released the regional compiled results minus the Techiman South constituency due to a dispute.
It shows that Akufo-Addo had 153,341 votes and Mahama won with 213,694 votes.
Mahama’s claim to win 10 regions
On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, NDC candidate John Drama Mahama claimed that his party had won a parliamentary majority of 140 seats out of 275 and had also won elections in 10 regions out of 16.
This, he claimed, was translating into a victory for him in the presidential elections.
Supporting that notion, the NDC national executive supported that argument and insisted that once they have obtained a regional majority, it will translate into an overall victory for the NDC.
NDC Secretary General Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Director of Elections Elvis Afriyie Ankrah reiterated this notion at various press conferences after the polls closed on Monday night.
Example 2008
In the 2008 elections, a similar argument was made when in the first round of the December 7 elections, the NDC won a parliamentary majority but was behind Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of the PNP, who led the presidential elections but did not was declared the winner because it did not obtain more than 50 percent of the total valid votes cast.
The NDC in the 2008 elections obtained the majority of votes in eight regions of the then 10 regions, with the exception of Ashanti and Eastern, where the NPP won.
Even with just the two regional victories, the PNP candidate had the majority of votes at the national level, but was unable to get more than 50 percent of the vote.
The election was for a runoff on December 28, 2008 between the two leading candidates, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the late John Evans Atta Mills, where Atta Mills won the runoff and became president.
Regional breakdown of EC certified presidential results between NPP and NDC
TIME
CN – 100,481
NDC – 606,508
NORTHEAST
CN – 122,742
NDC – 112.306
CENTRAL
CN – 613,804
NDC – 538,829
AHAFO
CN – 145,584
NDC – 116,485
TO WEST
CN – 121,230
NDC – 238,972
OTI
CN – 103,865
NDC – 181,021
BOND
CN – 292,604
NDC – 203,329
Read also: The EC publishes the results of the presidential elections of 7 regions
The EC said Wednesday morning that it has received results from 14 regions and of that, seven of them have been certified.
The remaining seven results are going through the certification process and will be released immediately.
The EC President, Ms. Jean Mensa mentioned the two remaining regions where the results were still outstanding as Bono Este and Norte.
The seven regions where the results were certified and published were Volta, Nordeste, Central, Ahafo, Alto Oeste, Oti and Bono.
The standouts were Ashanti, Eastern, Western, Western North, Upper East, Greater Accra, and Savannah.
The EC is expected to declare the results of the presidential elections and clarify who has obtained the parliamentary majority before the close of the day, Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
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