LIVE: Ablekuma North rerun underway
Voting is currently underway in 19 selected polling stations across the Ablekuma North Constituency in a partial election rerun that will finally determine its Member of Parliament.
The election pits the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, against the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh.
DailyNewsGhana will be providing live updates, results, and analysis as the day unfolds.
The election became necessary to break a seven-month deadlock that has left the constituency without parliamentary representation since the December 7th General Election.
The stakes: A numbers game
The race is exceptionally tight, making the outcome of today’s rerun critical. From the 262 polling stations already collated, the results stand as follows:
- NPP (Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh): 32,512
- NDC (Ewurabena Aubynn): 32,464
- Difference: 48 votes
With the thin margin above, the two candidates are expecting that the 6,863 expected voters across the 19 polling stations will ultimately decide the winner.
Contrasting strategies and unwavering resolve
Following the Electoral Commission’s decision for a partial rerun of some polling stations in Ablekuma North, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) vehemently rejected this directive, asserting that their parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, had already secured victory in the December election by a margin of 414 votes.
Their attempt to halt the rerun through a court injunction proved unsuccessful, as the application was dismissed on July 9th for being unmeritorious.
Despite the party’s official boycott, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie defiantly confirmed her intention to contest, telling journalists on July 10th, “I am contesting. We are fully prepared. We are going for this contest.”
Her stance garnered significant backing from a segment of constituency executives, current and former NPP Members of Parliament, and dedicated party faithful, who actively campaigned on her behalf.
Conversely, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has maintained a resolute front, firmly believing their candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, legitimately won the December election and expressing confidence in a decisive victory in the rerun.
NDC party executives and Members of Parliament have campaigned vigorously, urging constituents to turn out in strong support.
The impasse began during the collation of results last December when, according to the Electoral Commission (EC), political party supporters besieged the collation centre and destroyed an unspecified number of original result forms (Pink Sheets).
This led to the use of 37 scanned Pink Sheets, provided by the NPP, to continue the collation process.
The NDC objected, insisting on a full rerun in all 37 polling stations where scanned copies were used.
The NPP, however, argued that since NDC agents had verified the scanned copies, the results should stand.
In a press statement released on July 2nd, the EC detailed its resolution. The Commission announced it had successfully verified the results from 18 of the 37 scanned sheets with the original Presiding Officers. These results, also approved by party agents, will be upheld.
However, the EC could not secure the same verification from its officers for the remaining 19 polling stations.
“The Commission arrived at the decision to rerun the election in the underlisted Polling Stations because, the 19 scanned Polling Station results used for the collation, though approved by Agents of both Political Parties, were not verified by the Presiding Officers responsible for those Polling Stations,” the statement, signed by Deputy Chairman of Operations Samuel Tettey, explained.
Voters in areas including Nyamekye, Kawshieman, Awoshie, and Odorkor are heading to the polls today to cast their ballots and bring this long-standing electoral dispute to a close.
Stay with DailyNewsGhana for all the latest developments from the Ablekuma North rerun.
Below is the list of polling stations where the election is ongoing:
