NPP schools members on how to vote

Northern Regional Secretariat of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) is unhappy with the number of spoilt ballots recorded in the region at the just ended national delegates’ congress which produced Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo as the Presidential candidate for 2016.

A total of 314 representing 2.5% of the total valid votes cast were rejected across the region.

Majority of them thumb-printed the elephant symbol rather than the three aspirants whose portraits were displaced on the ballot paper.

The Secretariat is therefore embarking on a vigorous voter education to prevent a repeat of the situation in the 2016 general elections.

[contextly_sidebar id=”xEhmuttCGNGe9RHrcoDvSnumNRj91ogq”]The NPP regional Secretary, Sule Salifu decried the situation and said it will not be repeated in 2016.

Political analysts have also expressed concerns about the rejected number of votes recorded in national elections and have called on the various stakeholders involved in the process to educate Ghanaians on the proper way of voting.

The number of rejected ballots in 2012 was higher than the total votes of all the other Presidential candidates excluding the NDC and NPP candidates.

According to figures from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), in the 2012 elections, the number of rejected ballots stood at 251,720 (2.3%) of the total votes cast.

Although the number as a percentage of the total votes cast reduced by 0.13% from the 2008 rate of 2.4%  to 2.3%  in 2012, the 2012 rate was still higher than the 2004 rate of 2.2%.

Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo secured 11,848 out of the total votes cast representing 96.5%.

Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng trailed behind with a paltry figure of 346 votes representing 2.8%.

Addai Nimo secured 86 votes representing 0.7%.

Below represents how the delegates voted in the Northern during Saturday’s elections.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana-