Ghanaians are heading to the polls today to vote in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.
Long queues started forming across the country last night.
The Electoral Commission started the distribution of election materials since last night.
Ballot materials are being deployed in some parts of the country.
Over 17 million eligible voters across all 16 regions of Ghana will be casting their ballots.
There 12 presidential candidates in this year’s elections including one independent candidate but incumbent President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the main opposition leader and former president, John Dramani Mahama are the front runners.
Voting today will take place across 38,622 polling stations, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, informed the nation on Sunday evening, December 6, 2020 as she briefed journalists ahead of today’s crucial polls.
Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo and main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) flagbearer, former President John Mahama, are the two main contenders for the race.
However the odds favour the incumbent who is billed to be retained as all surveys put him ahead of his main challenger.
All campaign activities ended on Saturday evening, December 5, this year, with the ruling NPP holding a mammoth rally at the Mantse Agbonaa in Jamestown, Accra while John Mahama pitched camp at Dansoman park for his last rally.
President Akufo-Addo who is seeking a four-year term, addressed the nation on Sunday night from the Jubilee House, the seat of government in Accra, urging all eligible Ghanaian voters to step out of their homes to vote today.
The President urged voters not to fear and panic over Coronavirus, reminding them about how other nations around the world have held elections in recent times amid Coronavirus.
Today’s election is the eighth of its kind in the history of Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
The Fourth Republic started in 1992 with the return to democratic rule from the then late Former President Jerry John Rawlings’ Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) military junta which took over the reigns through a coup in 1981.
Ghana’s Fourth Republic has been arguably the most peaceful Electoral era so far.
Over the course of the Fourth Republic, five Presidents namely John Agyekum Kufuor, Jerry John Rawlings, John Evans Atta Mills, John Mahama, and Akufo-Addo, have been elected.
By Melvin Tarlue