Ghana’s electoral commission has extended the timeline of announcing the results of the presidential election.
On Monday, polls opened for eligible voters in all 16 regions across the country to elect new political leaders.
In a statement, the commission said the new time for the announcement of results would be “communicated shortly”.
“The Electoral Commission informs the General Public that to ensure the collation of results at the Constituency and Regional Collation Centres across the country is accurate, the EC will extend its intended timeline for declaring the 2020 Presidential election results. The new timeline will be communicated shortly.
“The Commission has continually reiterated that transparency, integrity, and fairness are the yard stick by which it conducted the 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.
“As such, to ensure that the declared Presidential results are 100% 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.
“The Commission thanks all the registered voters that turned up in their numbers to vote on 7″ December, 2020 and reminds the Public that it remains the only legally mandated body that can declare Presidential and Parliamentary election results in Ghana. ”
Although 12 candidates are vying for the presidency, including two women, the race is between President Nana Addo Akufo-Addo of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and ex-President John Dramani Mahama, leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
It is the third time Akufo-Addo and Mahama will compete against each other for the highest office, with each previously having won one poll: Akufo-Addo in 2016 and Mahama in 2012.
A candidate needs to gain at least 50 per cent of votes to be elected in the first round.
Ghana’s roughly 17 million registered voters also voted to elect 275 legislators from 914 candidates.