CODEO confident in EC’s final results
The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) says it is confident that the results of the 2016 presidential polls declared by the Electoral Commission (EC) are the accurate reflection of how Ghanaians voted in the December 7 polls.
CODEO employed the Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology to observe the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections, just as it did in 2008 and 2012, according to a release copied to ghanabusinessnews.com.
CODEO employed the PVT to independently verify the accuracy of the presidential election results as declared by the EC, it said.
All PVT data was thoroughly checked for accuracy and internal consistency. A total of 553,872 Ghanaians cast their ballots at sampled PVT polling stations. The EC’s official results are based on 271 constituencies that had been announced as of Friday December 9, 2016.
The percentages of the valid votes garnered by each of the seven presidential candidates as announced by the EC compared to the PVT estimates are as follows:
1. Ivor Kobina Greenstreet (CPP): EC Official Result = 0.24 per cent; PVT Estimate = 0.27 per cent;
2. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings (NDP): EC Official Result = 0.16 per cent; PVT Estimate = 0.18 per cent;
3. John Dramani Mahama (NDC): EC Official Result = 44.40 per cent; PVT Estimate = 44.32 per cent;
4. Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom (PPP): Official Result = 1.00 per cent; PVT Estimate = 1.07 per cent;
5. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (NPP): Official Result = 53.85 per cent; PVT Estimate = 53.75 per cent;
6. Dr. Edward Nasigre Mahama (PNC): Official Results = 0.21 per cent; PVT Estimate = 0.26 per cent; and
7. Jacob Osei Yeboah (Independent): Official Results = 0.15 per cent; PVT Estimate = 0.15 per cent.
The release further observed that for each candidate, the official result closely matched the PVT estimates. In general, the PVT ranking of the presidential candidates based on their share of the votes is largely similar to what was put out by the EC.
Voter turnout rate as estimated by the PVT is 69.33 per cent with a ±0.48 per cent margin of error. This is very close to the 68.62 per cent announced by the EC. The official turnout is slightly outside the PVT estimate, but the turnout figures are consistent.
Finally, the PVT estimated rejected ballots stood at 1.60 per cent, with a ±0.09 per cent margin of error, is also quite close to the EC’s figure of 1.54 per cent.
CODEO further called for the need for political parties, their leaders and the entire political class to take adequate measures to bridge political polarisation that characterized the 2016 election campaign, especially between the NDC and the NPP, and to reduce the winner-takes-all tendencies in politics.
“We need to do this for the sake of peace, unity, good governance and sustained socio-economic development of our dear country,” it stated.
CEDEO thanked all Ghanaians, the security agencies, political parties, volunteers, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands for their support and contribution towards their work during the 2016 general elections.
The Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT) methodology is an advanced and scientific election observation technique that employs well- established statistical principles and utilises Information Communication Technology (ICT) to observe elections.
By Pamela Ofori-Boateng
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