The affected constituencies include Akwatia, Ayensuano, Afram Plains South, Lower West Akim, all in the Eastern Region; Manhyia South, Adansi Asokwa and Mampong in the Ashanti Region; Ayawaso West Wuogon and Odododiodoo in the Greater Accra Region; and Amenfi East and Akontombra in the Western and Western North regions, respectively.

The rest are Tano North in the Ahafo Region; Gomoa Central, Assin North and Effutu in the Central Region.

The party said it was working to resolve the issues surrounding the affected constituencies, and that a new date for the elections would be announced in due course.

Elections

The acting Director of Elections of the NDC, Daniel Amartey Mensah, told the Daily Graphic last Friday that the presidential primary would, however, take place in 275 constituencies across the country except Manhyia South in the Ashanti Region where the presidential primary has been suspended along with the parliamentary primary.

He said the Manhyia South presidential primary had to do with the branch executive delegates list.

The parliamentary primaries would, thus, be held in 217 constituencies, with 15 put on hold, and 44 going unopposed.

In all, 55,862 aspirants will take part in the parliamentary primaries across the country.

Delegates

Mr Mensah said a total of 356,624 delegates of the party were expected to vote in the presidential primary.

They comprise branch, constituency, regional and national executive, former national executive, sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), former MPs and government appointees, NDC-appointed Article 71 Office Holders, and metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives that served under the party’s government.

The rest are NDC-appointed former Deputy and Ministers of State, former Ambassadors and High Commissioners, former Members of the Council of State, presidential staffers who fall under Article 71 Office Holders, foreign chapters and members of the NDC Professional Forum.

Mr Mensah explained that the election was originally scheduled to have taken place in 276 constituencies, including the Santrokofi-Akpafu-Lolobi-Likpe (SALL) area, until various circumstances intervened to force the suspensions.

Readiness

Mr Mensah expressed the readiness of the party to hold the elections which, he said, would be under the paid-for supervision of the Electoral Commission (EC).

He said the party had opted for a decentralised approach for the polls to save time and ensure efficiency.

He said where the delegates were more than the 1,200 threshold, two more centres had been created to ensure the polls end within the stipulated time of 4 p.m., saying voting would start at 8 a.m. in all the centres.

He said the results of the parliamentary primary polls would be declared at the constituency level, while for the presidential the final collation centre would be at the party's national headquarters in Accra.

Ballot papers

Mr Mensah said the first batch of the ballot papers for the presidential primary had been printed and handed over to the EC, with the rest to follow soon.

He said the party leadership last Wednesday met with representatives of the three presidential aspirants — Dr Kwabena Duffuor, Kojo Bonsu and former President John Dramani Mahama — to discuss the modalities regarding the election, and had also been handed copies of the voters’ register (albums) that would be used on the voting day.

Regarding the alleged issues of anomalies in the voters’ register raised by Dr Duffuor’s campaign team, Mr Mensah said the issue had been addressed, and that if the team still had concerns they could petition the Functional Executive Committee of the party for redress and not the EC.

“Last Wednesday, we gave out 228 copies of the photo albums to all the presidential aspirants for the elections, and the rest would be given to them in due course, which would be relevant on the election day,” he stated.