Several areas across the country have begun voting without problem in the presidential and parliamentary primaries of the National Democratic Congress at 7:00 a.m.
Delegates in the Greater Accra Region started lining up for the elections at 6:00 a.m. on Saturday, waiting for election authorities to open the polls at 7:00 a.m.
The Electoral Commission stated that the polls in the Trobu Constituency will open at 9:00 a.m. on election day due to the limited time available for preparations caused by legal proceedings.
All but one of the 275 seats in Manhyia will have flagbearer elections.
Dr. Kwabena Duffour formally announced his withdrawal from the National Democratic Congress’ upcoming flagbearership contest. He claims that there have been numerous irregularities in the exercise, which the party leadership has not addressed. As a result, he emphasised that he would no longer run for the NDC’s flagbearer position while still maintaining contact with the grassroots. The two men now involved are Mr. Kojo Bonsu, a former mayor of Kumasi, and former President John Dramani Mahama.
The former governor of the Bank of Ghana said in a press conference on Friday that his decision was based on his complaints about the procedures surrounding the party’s approaching primaries, particularly the voter register.
“At this time, the party has begun distributing the ballot papers to the various regions and constituencies without our involvement. I wish to reiterate my commitment to the party and grassroots; however, my concerns that the party is not ready to conduct free and fair elections are evident for all of us to see,” Dr. Duffour said.
“Taking part in such an event will be acting to knowing drinking from a poisoned calabash. After consulting with my support base nationwide, I have been left with no choice but to withdraw as I cannot contest an election blatantly flawed with irregularities, regardless of all my efforts to draw attention to the same.”
As a result of 16 seats being put on hold and 47 others having no opposition candidates, a total of 212 constituencies will hold elections for parliament.
There will be a total of 420 voting locations around the nation where the anticipated 356,624 voters can cast their ballots.
The party claims it will abandon the picture album in favour of other campaign materials. There will be 420 polling locations for the anticipated 356,024 voters. A maximum of 1,200 delegates are allowed in each polling location. Delegates will need to use a delegate list and present a legitimate national voter ID issued by the EC in order to cast a ballot at polling places.
There are 117 candidates competing for seats in Accra, 107 in Kumasi, and 75 in the Volta region, making that region the third most competitive region.
