By Edward Acquah
Accra, Dec. 9, GNA – The National Collation Centre, located at the Head Office of the Electoral Commission (EC), has so far received results from 12 regions out of the expected 16 regions.
As of 1130 hours on Monday, the Centre received results from Ahafo, Central, Western North, Oti, Eastern, Upper West, Bono East, North East, Volta, Bono, Western, and Northern Regions.
The EC awaits results from the Savannah, Greater Accra, Ashanti, and the Upper East regions to officially declare the winner of the presidential elections.
The Commission has planned to declare the presidential results within 72 hours after close of polls on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
Addressing a press conference Sunday afternoon, Mrs Jean Mensa, Chairperson, EC, said the collation involved an elaborate process that ensured inclusiveness of the agents of the political parties and assured that the Commission would “express the will of people as reflected on the pinksheets”.
She said the delays in the collation of results were because some party officials had besieged collation centres and made the work of the electoral officers difficult.
She urged the leadership of the political parties to speak to their supporters to leave the collation centres for seamless collation of the results.
Ghanaians went to the polls on Saturday, December 7, 2024, to elect a President and 276 Members of Parliament.
Polls opened at 0700 hours and closed at 1700 hours.
Per law, at the close of polls, the ballots are counted at the polling station in the full view of the party agents, the media, observers and the public, and then documented on the pink sheets – the document that determine the final results.
The pink sheets are signed by the presiding officer and all party agents present at the polling station.
Copies of the pink sheets are given to all party agents and one is also posted on the wall of each polling station.
The results from the Constituency Collation Centres are transmitted to the Regional Collation Centres for onward transmission by fax to the National Collation Centre.
Once the presidential election results have been received from all the 16 regions, they are reviewed by the agents of the political parties and certified by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, who is the Returning Officer for the presidential elections.
GNA