2016 Ghanaian general election
7 December 2016
Presidential election
Turnout69.25%
 
Nominee Nana Akufo-Addo John Mahama
Party NPP NDC
Popular vote 5,755,758 4,771,188
Percentage 53.72% 44.53%
President before election

John Mahama
NDC

 President-elect

Nana Akufo-Addo
NPP

Parliamentary election
All 275 seats in Parliament
138 seats needed for a majority
PartyLeader % Seats +/–
NPP Nana Akufo-Addo 52.48 169 +47
NDC John Mahama 42.28 106 −42
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Speaker before Speaker after
Edward Adjaho
NDC		 Aaron Mike Oquaye
NPP
Maps

General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament.[1] They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016,[2] but the date was later rejected by Parliament.[1] Former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party was elected President on his third attempt, defeating incumbent President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress.

The election results were announced on 9 December 2016 due to a delay of voting in two areas. At 19:51 local time, Mahama called Akufo-Addo to concede defeat. At 20:45, the Electoral Commission declared that Akufo-Addo had defeated Mahama in a single round. It was the first time in Ghana's history that a sitting president had been defeated for reelection.

Electoral system

The president is elected using the two-round system, whilst the 275 members of Parliament are elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.

Eligible voters must be Ghanaian citizens aged 18 or over, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. Parliamentary candidates must be Ghanaian citizens at least 21 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.[3]

Campaign

Presidential candidates

Over 16 people filed with the election commission to run for president. However, 13 presidential candidates were disqualified due to incorrect filing procedures. The disqualified candidates included former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the president of the National Democratic Party.[4] There was some controversy due to allegations that the candidates were disqualified for political reasons. The Electoral Commission denied all accusations. After the disqualification, only four presidential candidates remained. However, the presidential candidate of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) Paa Kwesi Nduom took the EC to court over his disqualification. The court finally ruled in his favour, allowing him to join the race.[5] Two other candidates who were disqualified also followed suit, leading to there being seven candidates.

Ivor Greenstreet from the Convention People's Party was the first physically challenged candidate to contest a presidential election.[6]

Party Presidential Candidate Running Mate
National Democratic Congress John Dramani Mahama Kwesi Amissah-Arthur[7]
Convention People's Party Ivor Greenstreet Gabby Nsiah Nketiah[8]
New Patriotic Party Nana Akufo-Addo[9] Mahamudu Bawumia[7]
Progressive People's Party Paa Kwesi Nduom Brigitte Dzogbenuku[10]
People's National Convention Edward Mahama Emmanuel Anyidoho[11]
National Democratic Party Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings Kojo Mensah Sosu[12]
Independent Candidate Jacob Osei Yeboah Daniel Wilson Torto[13]

Incumbent John Mahama was eligible for a second full term since he had ascended to the presidency with only six months remaining in the term of his predecessor and running mate, John Atta Mills. In Ghana, when a vice-president ascends to the presidency with more than half of a presidential term remaining, he is only allowed to run for a single full term in his own right. If more than half of the term has expired, the vice-president is eligible for two full terms.[14]

Parliamentary candidates

A total of 1,144 candidates contested the 275 seats in Parliament. The NDC and NPP both ran full slates of 275 candidates, whilst the CPP (222 candidates) and PPP (163) were the only two other parties to run in over half the seats. The PNC nominated 64 candidates, the NDP 33, the APC 20, the GCPP 10, the UFP six and the DPP and UPP both had only one candidate. The other 74 candidates were independents.[15]

Opinion polls

President

Poll source Date Sample size Undecided Mahama
NDC		 Akufo-Addo
NPP		 Nduom
PPP		 Greenstreet
CPP		 Other candidates Notes
Restart International 5 December 2016 2,000 54.7% 43.7%
Ben Ephson 28 November 2016 N/A 52.4% 45.9% 1.7% 2% margin of error
Ben Ephson October 2016 N/A 50.8% 47.5% 1.7% 2% margin of error
Goodman AMC August 2016 2,184 N/A 48% 45% 7% 0% 2.1% margin of error
Goodman AMC June 2016 1,644 N/A 44% 49% 6% 1% 2.3% margin of error
Goodman AMC April 2016 1,216 N/A 32% 65% 3% 0%

Results

Constituencies won by
■ – Nana Akufo-Addo
■ – John Dramani Mahama

President

CandidateRunning matePartyVotes%
Nana Akufo-AddoMahamudu BawumiaNew Patriotic Party5,755,75853.72
John Dramani MahamaKwesi Amissah-ArthurNational Democratic Congress4,771,18844.53
Paa Kwesi NduomBrigitte DzogbenukuProgressive People's Party106,0920.99
Ivor GreenstreetGabby Nsiah NketiahConvention People's Party25,5520.24
Edward MahamaEmmanuel AnyidohoPeople's National Convention22,2140.21
Nana Konadu Agyeman RawlingsKojo Mensah SosuNational Democratic Party16,9350.16
Jacob Osei YeboahDaniel Wilson TortoIndependent15,9110.15
Total10,713,650100.00
Valid votes10,713,65098.46
Invalid/blank votes167,3491.54
Total votes10,880,999100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,712,49969.25
Source: Electoral Commission Ghana

By region

Region
Nana Akufo-Addo
NPP		 John Dramani Mahama
NDC
Votes % Votes %
Ashanti1,640,69475.98503,49723.32
Brong-Ahafo531,14753.87422,78944.91
Central496,66853.22405,26243.43
Eastern 674,240 63.30379,67535.65
Greater Accra 1,062,157 52.42946,04846.69
Northern429,37541.89 569,853 55.59
Upper East157,39834.93 271,796 60.32
Upper West102,84335.94 167,032 58.37
Volta135,07717.38 629,398 80.97
Western 526,159 52.38455,83845.38
Source: Electoral Commission Ghana

Parliament

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
New Patriotic Party5,661,24852.48169+47
National Democratic Congress4,560,49142.28106–42
Progressive People's Party186,7411.7300
Convention People's Party69,3460.640–1
People's National Convention42,2360.390–1
National Democratic Party19,4500.1800
All People's Congress2,5270.020New
Great Consolidated Popular Party1,3680.0100
United Front Party8960.0100
Democratic People's Party8670.0100
United Progressive Party4300.000New
Independents241,8842.240–3
Total10,787,484100.002750
Valid votes10,787,48498.98
Invalid/blank votes111,1371.02
Total votes10,898,621100.00
Registered voters/turnout15,639,69069.69
Source: Election Passport

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Parliament rejects November 7 Election date". Ghana News Agency. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Parliament approves GHC826m for 2016 elections Ghana Web, 21 December 2015
  3. ↑ Electoral system IPU
  4. ↑ Clottey, Peter. "Ghana Electoral Body Denies Candidates' Disqualifications Politically Motivated". VOA. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  5. ↑ Nduom back in the race; floors EC in court Citi FM, 28 October 2016
  6. ↑ "Who is Ivor Greenstreet?". www.ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  7. 1 2 Bilie Adwoa McTernan. "Ghana's NPP prepares for the 2016 presidential race - West Africa". Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  8. ↑ "CPP chooses Gabby Nketia as running mate". www.citifmonline.com. citifmonline.com. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  9. ↑ "Ghana: Akuffo Addo to contest 2016 Presidential Election - TVC NEWS". Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  10. ↑ Myjoyonline.com (4 August 2016). "Nduom picks former Miss Ghana as running mate". Archived from the original on 9 February 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "PNC settles on Havard-trained economist as running mate". www.citifmonline.com. citifmonline.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "NDP unveils Kojo Mensah Sosu as running mate". www.ghanaweb.com. Ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "JOY selects Wilson Torto as running mate". www.ghanaweb.com. ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Constitution of Ghana, Section 60, clause 7: Where the unexpired term served by the Vice-President under clause 6 of this article exceeds half the term of a President, the Vice-President is subsequently only eligible to serve one full term as President.
  15. ↑ Parliament: Election 2016 Peace FM
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