NPP presidential primary: Compromised polling station results will be annulled
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has warned that results from any polling centre compromised by misconduct or breaches of rules during its January 31 presidential primary will be cancelled.
The Chairperson of the NPP Presidential Elections Committee, Joseph Osei-Owusu, told the Ghana News Agency that the party would annul results where evidence showed that irregular conduct had influenced the outcome.
“Any conduct that we can determine has had an adverse effect on the election will lead to the committee cancelling the results of that particular polling centre,” he said.
Rules
Mr Osei-Owusu said a strict set of election-day rules had been agreed to and signed by all five aspirants and submitted to the Electoral Commission (EC) and the Ghana Police Service for enforcement.
He said proxy voting had been abolished as a deliberate measure to prevent disputes and protect the credibility of the process.
“In this election, there is no space for anybody to vote by proxy. It is a strategic decision to protect the integrity of the election,” he said.
Mr Osei-Owusu said aspirants and their supporters would not be allowed to bring branded materials, camp delegates or aggregate voters at any location.
“You walk in, you vote and you go back. Nobody is permitted to put groups together or hold delegates anywhere,” he said.
Mr Osei-Owusu said voting would take place in the open and no individual would be permitted to direct voters or loiter around polling centres after voting.
He said only accredited persons and eligible delegates with valid identification, including a voter ID, Ghana Card or passport, would be allowed into polling centres.
“If you are a regional chairman, a national officer or even a former appointee, your only role is to come and vote.
You are not permitted to give instructions,” he said.
Mr Osei-Owusu warned that mobile phones would not be allowed in voting areas and that the use of private security or “macho men” would attract severe sanctions.
“If anybody misbehaves and we arrest him, I won’t listen to any big man coming to say he is my boy,” he quoted the Inspector-General of Police as saying at a recent meeting.
Mr Osei-Owusu said the police had begun training party executives on the rules to ensure compliance.
Vote buying
On vote-buying, he said although crowding at polling centres would be restricted, any credible evidence of inducement elsewhere would be investigated.
“If it is established that money was distributed to influence the election, and it affected the outcome, the results will be cancelled,” he said.
The NPP presidential primaries will be held at 333 polling centres across 276 constituencies, with 211,849 delegates eligible to vote.
Polls will open at 7.00 a.m. and close at 2.00 p.m., after which counting and declaration will take place at the polling centres.
Results will be transmitted to regional collation centres and subsequently to the EC headquarters in Accra for final declaration, before being formally announced by the party.
The five aspirants contesting the January 31, 2026, NPP presidential primary are Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, Ken Ohene Agyapong, Dr Bryan Acheampong and Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum.— GNA
