Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) is under scrutiny following months of confusion and inaction over the parliamentary results for Ablekuma North, a major constituency in Accra.
The decision to rerun elections in 19 polling stations – nearly seven months after the 2024 general election – has been sharply criticised by IMANI Africa, which points to internal failures, procedural mismanagement, and legal infractions that have collectively undermined the electoral process.
In an extensive analysis released by IMANI’s Founding President, Franklin Cudjoe, the organisation outlined how the EC, operating under C.I. 127 (Public Elections Regulations, 2020), lost control over the situation by failing to adhere strictly to the statutory framework required for validating parliamentary results.
“Imagine a parliamentary result hanging in limbo for seven months because 19 out of 281 polling stations’ Statement of Poll could not be verified”
Franklin Cudjoe, Founding President of IMANI Africa
At the heart of the impasse is the absence of presiding officer (PO) signatures on Form 8A from 19 polling stations – rendering the parliamentary result legally void. Regulation 19(2)(c) mandates that presiding officers must sign all election-related forms.
More importantly, Regulation 39(2) confirms that without the PO’s signature, the form holds no electoral weight, even if party agents have appended their signatures. IMANI’s brief references Regulation 48 to stress that “agent absence cannot void a poll,” but the regulation “does not empower agents to substitute for the presiding officer’s declaration.”
Additionally, under Regulation 45, any election officer who fails to perform such statutory duties commits an offence punishable by fines, imprisonment, and disqualification from future electoral roles. Yet, Cudjoe noted, “The EC has not invoked sanctions.”
A Collapsing System
The timeline of events has raised even greater concern. On December 7, 2024, original pink sheets were destroyed in a scuffle at the constituency’s collation centre.
Just ten days later, a fire at the Kwashieman cluster of schools consumed ballot boxes that had been moved there for safekeeping. With original records lost, the EC turned to scanned pink sheets provided by party agents, which only escalated partisan tensions and brought the process to a halt.
Even more alarming was the EC’s shifting stance. Initially, officials dismissed scanned sheets outright. Later, the same documents were accepted in a bid to salvage the collation process. This inconsistency left returning officers confused and undermined public trust.
“There were conflicting directives within the EC,” the brief said, blaming these missteps on poor internal communication and a lack of procedural clarity. Though the EC’s justification for a rerun, based on Regulations 19.2(c) and 39.2, is legally defensible, IMANI believes that “legal correctness cannot mask managerial failure.”
The absence of enforcement actions against the 19 presiding officers who failed to verify the results violates Regulation 45 and sets a dangerous precedent for accountability in electoral administration.
Moreover, the prolonged suspension of collation efforts, unmet court deadlines, and scarce public updates fuelled an atmosphere of suspicion.
“The precedent set here raises fears that future disputes over digital or scanned records could paralyze results indefinitely”
IMANI Africa
Voter Disenfranchisement
The human cost of this procedural breakdown has been immediate. Residents of Ablekuma North have gone without parliamentary representation for nearly seven months.
IMANI highlighted this as not just an electoral concern, but a democratic crisis that “erodes faith in Ghana’s electoral machinery.”
The think tank described the EC’s actions not as political manipulation, but as a failure of internal systems, logistics, and security. The lack of presiding officer oversight and the EC’s earlier endorsement of agent-signed scanned sheets introduced “confusion that culminated in the rerun decision.”
To prevent similar impasses in future elections, IMANI recommended that the EC introduce real-time electronic transmission of Form 8A to a secure central server, while ensuring paper records are guarded in high-security facilities.
The organisation also called for a pool of trained reserve presiding officers, who can replace non-compliant or absent POs instantly.
In addition, IMANI urges Parliament to promulgate a new Constitutional Instrument tailored specifically for the 2028 elections. This new C.I, they argue, should integrate lessons from Ablekuma North and establish new protocols for digital verification and record custody.
“Each successive poll must benefit from evolving best practices,” the report concludes.
As it stands, the EC’s ruling to rerun 19 polling stations is a procedural necessity dictated by electoral law, but it has also laid bare the institutional gaps that continue to plague Ghana’s electoral management system.
For IMANI, until systemic reforms are implemented, the credibility of Ghana’s democracy remains vulnerable – even in its most prominent constituencies.
