On December 7, 2024, Ghana conducted its ninth presidential and parliamentary elections since returning to multiparty democracy in 1992. A total of 18.7 million registered voters were expected to vote across 40,648 polling stations in 276 constituencies spanning the country’s 16 regions. Fifteen political parties presented candidates for the presidential and parliamentary elections however for the presidential election, there were 12 presidential candidates (11 male and 1 female) of which four of them were independent candidates. Meanwhile, 801 parliamentary candidates contested seats in 276 constituencies. Female candidates constitute 14.9% (119) while male candidates 85.1% (682).
Ghana employed a hybrid voter registration process, combining an online system with physical registration centers. Female registered voters were 9,689,980 (51.6%) while male registered voters are 9,084,179 (48.4%) and 55,492 registered voters are persons with disabilities (PWDs). On youth representation, 55.1% of voters on the register were aged between 18 and 35, with 708,280 first-time voters.
The election was held amid economic challenges, including stagnation, high inflation, rising debt, corruption, unemployment, and illegal small-scale mining (galamsey) which sparked protests in the pre-election season. Public trust in key institutions, such as the Electoral Commission (EC) and judiciary, was low due to allegations of partisan appointments and reported voter register issues, including duplicate entries, missing data, and unauthorized transfers. It’s the first time under Ghana’s fourth republic that the two major political parties, National Democratic Congress (NDC) and New Patriotic Party (NPP) are fielding candidates from Northern region. It was the first time; a Muslim candidate will be nominated by a major party.
The alleged appointment of partisan individuals into the electoral commission eroded public confidence in the electoral commission. This was further complicated with the voter register audit that revealed issues such as duplicate entries, untraceable polling stations, missing voter data, and unauthorized transfers of voters between polling stations. Reported cases of leaked ballot papers and discrepancies with the serial numbers of some ballots Ahafo, Volta, Western and Eastern Regions3. Despite public distrust, the electoral commission took measures to address these concerns through a thorough review and verification process of the voter register and destruction and reprinting of ballot papers in the affected regions. To promote transparency, the electoral commission unprecedently opened up its engagements with political parties under the auspices of the Inter-party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to the media.4 These actions demonstrated the Commission’s commitment to addressing concerns and improving trust in the electoral process.