With the December 7 presidential election drawing near, well-known Ghanaian pollster Ben Ephson has expressed doubt that the Electoral Commission (EC) will conduct a re-ballot for candidate positions. According to Ephson, such a move would place an unnecessary financial strain on the political parties, many of whom have already invested heavily in campaign materials reflecting their current ballot positions.
Ephson noted that the EC had recently accepted the re-nomination forms from the Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), despite the recent passing of its flagbearer, Madam Akua Donkor. This acceptance has led Ephson to believe that the EC will allow the GFP’s position on the ballot to remain unchanged, even though the party no longer has an active presidential candidate. “If there is nobody, number three will be blank,” he explained, arguing that there is no need to disrupt the current ballot sequence simply because the GFP is now without a candidate.
In Ephson’s view, any decision to re-ballot could unsettle campaign strategies and materials that have already been finalized based on existing positions. He emphasized that the withdrawal of a candidate does not necessarily require the rearrangement of ballot numbers, saying, “All the parties, based on their balloting, have done their campaign materials. I’d be very surprised if the EC decides to shift the numbers up. “I think that Madam Akua Donkor’s votes have mainly come from farmers, and I think they will perform as they have in the past,” he said. He added that the GFP might see a small uptick in support due to public sympathy, but he expects it to remain below 1.5% overall.
Looking at the broader electoral landscape, Ephson projected that Ghana’s two major political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), would continue to dominate the 2024 election. He asserted that minor parties would likely struggle to surpass the 1.5% threshold, stating, “I don’t believe all the others will get 2%.” His analysis underscores the continuing trend in Ghanaian politics, where the two-party system has maintained a firm grip on the majority of votes in national elections.
Source: 3News
