Ghanaian general election, 2016

Ghanaian presidential election, 2016

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Opinion polls
Nominee Nana Akufo-Addo John Dramani Mahama Party New Patriotic NDC Popular vote 5,716,026 4,713,277 Percentage 53.85% 44.40%
Presidential election results map. Green denotes provinces won by Mahama, and Blue denotes those won by Akufo-Addo.
President before election John Dramani Mahama NDC President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo New Patriotic

John Dramani Mahama
NDC

Nana Akufo-Addo
New Patriotic

General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament. They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016, but the date was later rejected by Parliament. Former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party was elected President on his third attempt, defeating incumbent President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress.

The election results were announced on 9 December 2016 due to a delay of voting in two areas. At 19:51 local time, Mahama called Akufo-Addo to concede defeat. At 20:45, the Electoral Commission declared that Akufo-Addo had defeated Mahama in a single round, the first time that a sitting president of Ghana had failed to win a second term.

The president is elected using the two-round system, whilst the 275 members of Parliament are elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.

Eligible voters must be Ghanaian citizens who are at least 18 years old, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. Parliamentary candidates must be Ghanaian citizens at least 21 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.

Over 16 people filed with the election commission to run for president. However, 13 presidential candidates were disqualified due to incorrect filing procedures. The disqualified candidates included former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the president of the National Democratic Party. There was some controversy due to allegations that the candidates were disqualified for political reasons. The Electoral Commission denied all accusations. After the disqualification, only four presidential candidates remained. However, the presidential candidate of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) Paa Kwesi Nduom took the EC to court over his disqualification. The court finally ruled in his favour, allowing him to join the race. Two other candidates who were disqualified also followed suit, leading to there being seven candidates.