Ghanaians will go to the polls on Saturday, December 7, 2024, to elect a new leader as President Nana Akufo-Addo steps down after completing his constitutionally limited second term in office.
As usual, candidates are touting their visions and ideas, making promises, and jabbing each other. All this makes for a bustling election season.
As has been the case, the election is a contest between the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), as the two have shared the presidential seat for the last 32 years.
Key issues that Ghana’s eligible voters will be considering include youth unemployment, education, the economy, corruption, and healthcare.
Here are 6 things to know about this election.
- What are Ghanaians voting for?
On polling day, two elections will be taking place simultaneously: presidential and parliamentary.
Although 12 hopefuls are vying for the presidency, only one has a realistic chance of winning. Ghanaians will also elect members of parliament to serve in the country’s 276 constituencies.
The polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 5 p.m.
- Who will be Ghana’s next president?
While the Electoral Commission has qualified 12 candidates to be on the presidential ballot, in reality, the election is a race between the candidates of the country’s two rival parties, the NDC and the NPP.
Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP is term-limited.
His party, now led by Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, is campaigning to win an unprecedented third term in government, while the NDC, led by former president John Dramani Mahama, is determined to return to power and avoid becoming the first party to stay in opposition three elections in a row.
Other candidates garnering attention are Nana Kwame Bediako (Cheddar) of the New Force Movement, Alan Kyerematen of the Movement for Change, Hassan Abdulai Ayariga of the All People’s Congress (APC), Kofi Akpaloo of the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), and Nana Akosua Frimpomaa of the Convention People’s Party (CPP).
The rest are Kofi Koranteng and George Twum Barima.
- How many people are voting?
A total of 18, 772,795 valid voters are expected to participate in the upcoming December general elections, according to statistics released by the Electoral Commission (EC).
Of this number, 9,690,173 are females, while 9,082,622 are males.
The data also revealed that 708,282 new voters have been added to the electoral roll for the December elections.
Additionally, there are 332,110 transferred voters, 2,167 proxy voters, 32,974 applicants on the exceptions list, and 26,798 applicants on the multiples list.
- How does the election system work?
Members of parliament are elected on a first-past-the-post basis. Thus, the candidate who obtains the most votes among the contestants on a constituency’s parliamentary ballot wins the seat.
However, to win the presidential election, a candidate must obtain 50%+1 of the valid votes.
Where no candidate on the presidential ballot obtains a 50%+1 vote, a run-off election between the two leading candidates with the highest number of votes must be held within 21 days of the first election to decide the winner.
On election day, each voter can turn up to their assigned polling station with their voter’s ID card, where they will have their fingerprints electronically checked and are then issued with the two ballot papers. Each person who has cast their ballot then has their little finger marked with indelible ink to prevent voting a second time.
- Special voting arrangement
A special voting exercise for election 2024, set for Monday, December 2, 2024, will be held at 328 centres nationwide.
The exercise allows specific groups of registered voters, including journalists and security personnel, to cast their votes ahead of the general election due to their roles in the December 7 event.
Any voter who is on the special voting list but does not vote on the special voting day cannot vote on December 7 because he or she will be on the absent voter list at the polling station where they want to vote.
According to the EC, ballots from Monday’s voting will not be counted until the general election is conducted on December 7.
All ballot boxes shall be properly sealed and kept in a secured room at a police station within the constituency.
Returning Officers shall ensure that Presiding Officers do not count ballots cast on the Special Voting Day.
- When will the election results be declared?
The EC has outlined its plan to expedite the announcement of results for the 2024 presidential polls, aiming to declare the outcomes within three days of voting.
As per the EC’s timetable of activities for the 2024 elections, regional collation centres will be utilised to announce results at the regional level.