Africa-Press – Ghana. Polls have officially closed across voting centres in the Akwatia Constituency where about 52,000 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots in the parliamentary by-election.
The poll, which took place across 119 polling stations, follows the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Mr Ernest Yaw Kumi of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who won the seat in the 2024 general election.
Polls opened at 0700 hours and closed at 1700 hours.
Counting and sorting of the ballot is currently underway amid heightened security and restriction of movement around the voting perimeter.
The deployment of election materials commenced at about 0400 hours. By 0600 hours, some of the polling stations within the Akwatia Township had finished their set up.
The voting process was generally peaceful except an incident involving a scuffle between some executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at the Akwatia Lorry Station Polling Centre Tuesday afternoon.
The EC has designated a constituency collation centre at Akwatia where the winner of the contest would be declared.
The contest is between Mr Solomon Kwame Asumadu of the NPP, a licensed small-scale miner and graduate of All Nations University, and Mr Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a lawyer and constituency secretary of the NDC.
Akwatia, a traditional swing seat, has alternated between the NPP and NDC since 1992, making Tuesday’s by-election a crucial test of strength for both parties.
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