Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) has defended the decision to re-collate election results in nine seats following their first announcement, pointing out that this is not a novel procedure in the nation’s electoral history.
The EC highlighted the importance of accuracy and fairness in the electoral process in a statement posted on social media, citing previous cases where recollection has resulted in modifications to reported outcomes.
“Re-collation after the declaration of results is not new. It has happened before,” the EC asserted, providing examples from previous elections:
1. 1998: During district-level elections in the Dompose Kokwaado Electoral Area in the KEEA District, the EC, under the leadership of Dr. Afari Gyan, overturned an earlier declaration and declared the correct candidate as the winner.
2. 2004: Under Dr Afari Gyan, the EC re-collated parliamentary results in the Pru Constituency, overturning the initial declaration in favour of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, who was subsequently declared the winner over the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate.
3. 2004: The Tolon Constituency results were re-collated, and the correct candidate was declared the winner.
4. 2004: Re-collation also took place in the Yapei-Kusawgu Constituency, leading to the declaration of the rightful winner.
5. 2004: Similarly, in the Zabzugu Constituency, a re-collation resulted in the correct candidate being declared as the winner.
Public discussion has been triggered by the EC’s decision to re-collate results for the nine constituencies; opposition have questioned the move’s timing and possible effects.
However, the Commission insists that its actions are consistent with its mandate to ensure free, fair, and credible elections.
It was underlined that recollation is a corrective action to resolve inconsistencies and guarantee that the results proclaimed fairly represent the people’s will.
