NDC primary: untimely advance declaration of results – Goosie Tanoh

General News of Saturday, February 23, 2019

Source: citinewsroom.com

2019-02-23

National Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Goosie Tanoh decried the swift declaration of results in some constituencies during the party's presidential primaries.

According to him, such behavior could discourage delegates who intend to vote for other candidates and give the impression that other candidates have no chance of winning the ballot box.

Goosie Tanoh made the remarks while addressing reporters after touring some constituencies during the party's presidential primaries.

Before the official closing time of the poll at 5 pm,

The counting, sorting and reporting of the results was done earlier in some centers, before the official closing of the polls at 5 pm, with former President John Mahama far ahead of the other six candidates.

But Goosie Tanoh said the other candidates who seem to be far behind John Mahama are also able to garner a lot more votes than him in another polling station and therefore do not believe that the situation is hopeless for others candidates.

"The real problem is when they declared it [the results]. You are supposed to report at 5 pm because you are then influencing people to vote by suggesting that this is a desperate case for other candidates, but we do not think this is a hopeless case for other candidates. I'm sure you'll discover areas where we also have a margin well over 600, "he said.

However, he said he thought the party headquarters would take care of the issue and fix it.

"I received a call from a senior party official, who was also very upset that the vote was announced, while there are still hours before the closure, so I'm not happy …. I think our head office is handling this problem, "he said.

Despite warnings from party leaders that the results would not be reported until after 5 pm, the results of constituencies such as Saboba and Chereponi were announced before 5 pm due to the existing curfew from 4 pm to 7 am.

Prior to the election, six of the candidates raised a number of concerns about the process. They have asked the party on several occasions to raise their concerns.