The current rankings in the impending by-election for the Assin North constituency have been revealed by a new Global InfoAnalytics poll.

According to the poll, Charles Opoku, the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) parliamentary candidate, has a tiny lead over James Gyakye Quayson, the National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) parliamentary candidate.

The poll found that 45.6 percent of respondents said they planned to vote for James Gyakye Quayson and 46.7 percent said they would support Charles Opoku.

The figures also show that 6.9% of voters are still uncertain, which means that their votes will be crucial in determining how Tuesday’s election turns out.

2,500 people took the survey, which gave useful information on the electorate’s preferences prior to the by-election. Knowing that their choice will influence the outcome, both contenders are competing for the support of the voters who are still undecided.

According to the Global InfoAnalytics survey, Charles Opoku has lost his 19% lead from four weeks ago and now holds a 1.1% advantage, making the race a tie.

“Charles Opoku led in the first tracking poll 57% to 38% against James Gyakye-Quayson. However, over the period, Charles has slid in the poll as the campaign got into full swing, losing an average 1% daily since 6th June, and currently, leads 46.7% by 45.6%, representing a margin of 1.1% a drop from 19% margin. 6.9% of voters are undecided, meaning the fate of the race very much lies in the hand of undecided voters.”
Global InfoAnalytics

Gyakye Quayson Leads In More Areas Than Charles Opoku

The poll also showed that Mr. Gyakye-Quayson is in the lead in 11 out of the 18 electoral districts, while Mr. Opoku is in the lead in 7% of them. The poll reveals that Mr. Opoku has a commanding advantage among voters in the 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 age groups. In older groups, Mr. Gyakye Quayson takes the lead.

Young voters, though, may not turn out in the same numbers as predicted by the poll, which might hurt Mr. Opoku’s chances if the demographic is unreliable.

Although Mr. Gyakye Quayson is in the lead among the important Akan community, Mr. Opoku is ahead of him among the Ewes, who make up the constituency’s second-largest ethnic group.

The study found that 70% of respondents said they would not be influenced by the sudden development initiatives in the district, while only 30% said they would.

Ironically, 78% of respondents who were asked what they would do if given a financial incentive to support a particular politician indicated they would accept it and vote for that candidate, while just 16% said they would accept the incentive and vote against that candidate.

When asked whether they were persuaded to vote for Mr. Opoku because they thought Mr. Gyakye Quayson’s court case might be a problem, 20% of the people who supported him responded that they intended to support him because of Mr. Gyakye Quayson’s court case.

According to the study, 44% of NDC voters who plan to support Charles Opoku are doing so as a result of Mr. Gyakye-Quayson’s legal battle.

Undecided voters make up an average of over 10% of voters in the crucial battleground electoral districts of Endwa, Breku, Dominase, Bediadua, and Praso.