By Isaac Arkoh
Assin-Bereku (C/R), June 27, GNA – Polls have opened at 0700 hours across voting centres in the Assin North Constituency by-election to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP).
Before the opening of polls, long queues were formed at some polling stations.
About 41,168 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at 99 polling centres using 198 biometric Verification Machines (BVDs) to elect one of the three candidates to complete the unexpired parliamentary term.
The election followed a Supreme Court’s declaration that the election of Mr James Gyakye Quayson as well as his swearing-in as an MP was unconstitutional, null, void, and of no legal effect.
Vying for the seat are; Mr Charles Opoku of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who is first on the ballot paper, followed by Madam Enyonam Sefenu for the Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG), the second on the ballot, and Mr Quayson, the former MP, representing the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the third on the ballot paper.
The process has been smooth at all centres visited by the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
Before the start of voting, EC officials together with the political party agents thoroughly examined the electoral materials at each polling station. They agreed on the position of the voting booth.
At the D/A JHS ‘B’ polling station, which has 439 voters on the register as confirmed by Mr Pinnock Amoo Tenkorang, the Electoral Officer in charge, the first person voted at 0702 hours.
At the Methodist Primary School ‘2’, 40 people voted as of 0740 hours, with others waiting patiently for their turn to exercise their franchise.
Agents for all the candidates, particularly the NPP and NDC were present at all centres.
The Candidate for LPG has four agents at the 13 polling stations in Assin-Bereku.
There is a heavy security presence across the polling centres.
Some security officers are also seen at strategic locations, particularly road intersections to manage traffic.
Security has been beefed up to cover adjoining districts such as Assin South, Assin Central in the Central region, and Adansi South in the Ashanti Region.
The two major political parties – the governing NPP and NDC, at a security meeting on Monday, pledged to play their respective roles in ensuring peace before, during, and after the by-election.
Some people, who were seen going to farms early morning, said they would come and vote in the afternoon when the number of voters had reduced at the centres.
Some voters told GNA they were optimistic about the chances of their candidates and accused each other of vote buying.
Indications are that, Assin North could be anybody’s game.
In the 2020 presidential election, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo beat Mr John Dramani Mahama by about 1000 votes in the constituency, whilst Mr Quayson, the NDC Candidate, beat the then incumbent NPP Candidate, Ms Abena Durowaa Mensah, by 3,305 votes.
In 2016, President Akufo-Addo beat Mr Mahama by less than 2,000 votes, whilst the NPP’s Abena Mensah snatched the parliamentary seat from the NDC incumbent, Samuel Ambre, beating him by 4,802 votes.
In 2012, then-President Mahama beat the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo by about 3,000 votes in the presidential election, whilst Samuel Ambre of the NDC beat the NPP’s Ebenezer Appiah-Kubi by 2,057 votes.
Before that, the NPP had held the seat for a long time.
GNA