By Albert Oppong-Ansah/Edward Acquah
Accra, Dec. 8, GNA- The Electoral Commission (EC) has urged the citizenry to be patient and remain calm as it works to complete processes towards the declaration of the presidential elections.
The Commission said no results had been received at the National Collation Centre in Accra from the 16 regions as of 0800 hours on Sunday.
Giving an update on the collation of results so far, Mr Benjamin Bano-Bioh, Director of Electoral Services, EC, said the results from the Constituency Collation Centres were “trickling in” to the regional collation centres.
“Our feedback from the field is that the results are trickling in to the regional collation centres, hence our inability to publishing those results,” he said.
Mr Bano-Bioh said the results from the regions would form the basis for the declaration of the presidential election results at the National Collation Centre.
He asked EC officials at the various collation centres to “stand firm and carry out your duties as expected.”
He also appealed to the agents of the political parties to cooperate with the EC officials for the smooth collation of results.
In an earlier briefing Sunday dawn, Mr Samuel Tettey, the Deputy EC Chair in Charge of Operations, said the massing up of party supporters at the collation centres was delaying the collation process.
He appealed to the leadership of the various political parties to engage their supporters to leave the Collation Centres to allow the 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.
As of 0800 hours Sunday, the constituency results in most constituencies had been released, while collation was ongoing in many more constituencies.
The results from the Constituency Collation Centres would be transmitted to the Regional Collation Centres for onward transmission by fax to the National Collation Centre.
Once the presidential election results had been received from all the 16 regions, it would be 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