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Ghana presidential vote extended for second day after technical glitches
The election pits President John Mahama, who replaced the late John Atta Mills after his death in July, against Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who has vowed to provide free education and root out corruption.
Opinion polls point to a tight race, raising the prospect of a repeat of the near-deadlock of the 2008 elections, in which Mills defeated Akufo-Addo in a run-off with a margin of less than 1 percent.
Results are expected within two days of polls closing, with a second round possible at the end of December if no one wins an outright majority.
President Mahama, voting in his home town of Bole in northern Ghana, said that, despite the delays, the election was on course to solidify the country’s democratic advances.
“This election is going to consolidate Ghana’s democratic credentials once and for all. After we go through this, I believe there will be no doubt, no questions, about the fact that Ghana is a leading democracy in Africa.”
Ghana’s 2008 election was close enough to spark fears of conflict, but its ability to return from the brink led U.S. President Barack Obama at the time to dub Ghana a “model democracy” in Africa.
After casting his ballot in his native Kyebi, in Ghana’s east, Akufo-Addo said the outcome of the vote was “in the hands of the Ghanaian people”, and said he had seen no signs of fraud. His NPP party issued a statement late on Friday saying “the election is capable of passing of fairly and freely” if voters are allowed to cast their ballots.
