The Electoral Commission (EC) has given details of all the polling centres that would be used for the 2024 general election as part of efforts to maintain transparency and the credibility of the electoral process as well as keep trust with the Ghanaian people.
It published and announced that 40,975 polling centres will be used for the December 2, 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
This is in line with Regulation 18 (1) of Public Elections Regulations 2020 C.I. 127, which stipulates that “For the purpose of taking the poll all designated places to be used as polling stations for elections shall be published on the website of the Commission and a copy of the publication shall, within 60 days to an election be given to political parties and any candidate contesting the election.”
In a letter dated October 10, 2024 signed by the Deputy Chairman in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey and addressed to the political parties, the EC outlined the breakdown of polling stations, including special voting centres.
The main polling stations for the December 7, 2024 elections are 40,647 and that for special voting centres is 328.
The figure is an increase from the 38,622 voting centres that were used in the 2020 polls.
Polling station codes, polling station names, constituencies, Districts and Regions have all been provided by the country’s election management body for the various political parties as well as the independent presidential and parliamentary candidates to scrutinise the electoral process ahead of the election.
In the last general election, there were a total of 33,367 polling centres and together with the Special Voting centres, totalling the 38,622.
Again, there were over 28,000 stations in the 2016 election.
Special voting
A special voting by security agencies, electoral officers and media personnel will take place on December 2, 2024 before the December 7 general election.
Candidates for 2024 polls
Last Month, the EC cleared 13 candidates for the 2024 presidential election.
They are nine candidates contesting on the ticket of political parties and four independent candidates in the race.
Notable among the 11 aspirants who have been disqualified were the flagbearer of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Bernard Mornah; Janet Nabla, an independent aspirant and Kofi Asamoah Siaw of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP).
When the window for filing of nominations closed on Friday, September 13, 2024, 12 presidential aspirants standing on the ticket of political parties and 12 others who were standing as independent entities had filed their nominations with the Electoral Commission (EC), totalling 24 to contest the presidential slot in the December 7 general election.
However, only 13 qualified to contest the 2024 presidential election.
“Following the successful conduct of the filing of nominations from the 9th of September to the 13th of September, 2024, the commission instituted a thorough examination of the nomination forms submitted by the candidates to ensure conformity with requirements as set out in law,” a statement issued by the EC on September 20, 2024 announced.
Qualified candidates
The EC later declared that only 13 of the presidential nominees had successfully gone through the Nomination process and qualified to contest as candidates in the 2024 Presidential Election.
They included Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, New Patriotic Party (NPP); Mr. John Dramani Mahama – National Democratic Congress (NDC); Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Independent Candidate; Mr. Christian Kwabena Andrews, Ghana Union Movement (GUM); Mr. Daniel Augustus Lartey Jnr – Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) and Mr. George Twum-Barima-Adu, Independent Candidate
The rest were Nana Kwame Bediako, Independent Candidate; Madam Akua Donkor, Ghana Freedom Party (GFP); Mr. Hassan Abdulai Ayariga, All People’s Congress (APC); Mr. Kofi Akpaloo, Liberal Party of Ghana (LPG); Mr. Mohammed Frimpong, National Democratic Party (NDP); Nana Akosua Frimpomaa, Convention People’s Party (CPP); and Mr. Kofi Koranteng, Independent Candidate.