EC receives 210 constituency results so far but says turnout was lowest ever

The Electoral Commission (EC) says it has received 210 out of the 275 constituency results so far with 65 more to be collated for the final results. She also said voter turnout at 49 percent was the lowest in the country’s history.

Updating the media at the head quarters of the EC, Madam Charlotte Osei, Chairperson of the Commission asked the public to bear with the Commission as it ensures that what they will present to the public is accurate.

She also indicated that the party agents at the national collation centre are waiting to receive the ‘pink sheets’ and sign before the results can be certified.

The sheets have to be transported from all over the country to the capital Accra. The EC and the parties reverted to manual verification because the EC’s electronic results transmission system was compromised.

Speaking at a press conference December 8, she said, “Prior to the elections we announced that we were going to use two methods of results transmission. We were going to use both the electronic and manual systems.

The electronic system would have enabled us to see results of all the 29,000 polling stations at the same time as recommended by the reform committee after the 2012 elections before we declare results.”

She expressed disappointment however, with the election turnout of 49 percent which she described as the lowest in the history of the country’s election.

By Pamela Ofori-Boateng