The Deputy Director of Elections and IT for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Rashid Tanko-Computer, has welcomed the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to rerun elections in 19 of the remaining 37 polling stations in Ablekuma North.
This follows months of protracted disagreement over the results of 62 polling stations, which has been narrowed down to 19 after major stakeholders reached a compromise.
Reacting to the development, Tanko-Computer, who has ably represented the NDC in most of its engagements on the issue, said the decision is a true reflection of what democracy represents.
“This is good news for democracy,” he said on Ghana Tonight on TV3 Wednesday, July 02, 2025.
His comments follow the EC’s announcement that, it will, on Friday, July 11, 2025, conduct a rerun of 19 polling stations in yet another attempt to settle the disputed Ablekuma North constituency parliamentary election in the Greater Accra region.
The EC says the decision forms part of its efforts to resolve the ongoing impasse surrounding the constituency’s results, which has consequently left the constituents without a Member of Parliament.
In a statement released on Wednesday, July 2, the Commission confirmed a meeting with representatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the two major contenders, to discuss the status of the disputed election.
The meeting followed an earlier engagement held on June 12.
Despite the discussions, both parties maintained their earlier positions. The NDC argued for a rerun in all 37 polling stations, contending that the scanned pink sheets used during collation were submitted solely by the NPP.
Conversely, the NPP insisted that results from the remaining three outstanding polling stations should be collated, and a winner declared, stating that NDC agents had already verified the scanned pink sheets in question.
The core of the dispute centred on the fact that 37 scanned pink sheets, used during the collation process during the December 7 voting, were originally provided by the NPP following the destruction of physical documents by political party supporters who stormed the collation centre.
After careful deliberation, the Commission announced its decision to rerun the election in 19 of the 37 polling stations.
According to the statement, although agents from both parties had approved all 37 scanned results, only 18 of these were verified and confirmed by the respective presiding officers. These 18 polling stations will not see a rerun.
“The Commission was able to secure the Presiding Officers’ verification and confirmation for 18 scanned polling station results agents of both parties also approved same. A rerun will therefore not be held in those polling stations,” the statement clarified.
This is what Tanko-Computer has welcomed, applauding the EC for not kowtowing to the dictates of a particular group or individual but rather following the rule of law.
“Democracy is one thing that we have chosen for ourselves in Ghana, that we should be governed by rule of law and not somebody’s whims and caprices. So, I’m happy with the outcome of the decision by Electoral Commission to re-run 19 of the 37 polling stations,” he stated.
EC to rerun elections in 19 out of 37 polling stations in Ablekuma North on July 11
