Citing procedural violations and threats to its employees during the collation process, the Electoral Commission (EC) has declared the parliamentary results for Dome Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, and Ablekuma North void.
Notice and Justifications for Nullification
EC Chairperson Jean Mensa described the anomalies that resulted in the decision at a news conference held in Accra on Thursday, December 19. She claims that the results for Ablekuma North and Okaikwei Central were released without adequate collation and contained several important omissions:
Okaikwei Central: 31 polling station results were not included.
Ablekuma North: There was no compilation of the results from 62 polling places.
“In the case of Okaikwei Central, the winner was declared without collating results from 31 polling stations. In the case of the Ablekuma North, a winner was declared without collating results from 62 polling stations.
“This is unacceptable, the declarations were made under threats and the Commission considers these as illegal. Those declarations similar in other constituencies will not be upheld.”
The EC has successfully finished the procedure for Suhum, Akwatia, and Fanteakwa North out of the 12 constituencies that were identified for re-collation. However, because to the inconsistencies, the disputed results in Ablekuma North and Okaikwei Central have not been determined.
Violence and instability plagued the collation process in a number of constituencies, including Dome Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, and Tema Central. There were disagreements on how to aggregate and distribute the findings after the collation duties were moved to the Police Training School.
The recollation process has been contested by the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which contends that the results announced at polling places ought to be considered definitive. In these divisive constituencies, the EC’s nullification heightens the anxiety surrounding the legislative elections.
The Commission reiterated its dedication to maintaining transparency and accuracy despite challenges.
