The National Democratic Congress, NDC’s James Gyakye Quayson has been retained as Member of Parliament in the Assin-North by-election.
According to certified results from the Electoral Commission, EC, Mr. Quayson polled 17,243 votes representing 57.56% of valid votes cast to beat his contender, the NPP’s Charles Opoku, who polled 12,630 representing 42.15% of the valid votes cast.
Bernice Enyonam Sefenu of the LPG garnered 87 votes representing 0.29% of the valid votes cast.
According to the EC, total votes cast in the Assin by-election is 30,418. Total valid votes cast is 29,962, leaving 456 total rejected ballots.
Turnout was 74.23%.
Earlier, the Director of IT of the New Patriotic Party, NPP, Eric Ntori, conceded defeat, saying, ”We have lost it all”.
The Parliamentary by-election in the Assin North Constituency saw massive political activity in the past days.
The Electoral Commission officially closed the polls at 1700 hours for the sorting of the ballots to proceed at the polling stations.
Scores of party supporters gathered to witness the counting process amidst a heavy security presence.
The announcement of the provisional results was received with spontaneous jubilation by supporters of the winner at the polling station.
The polling centers were cordoned off to ward off intruders and ensure the smooth counting of the ballots.
The election followed the Supreme Court’s declaration that the election of Gyakye Quayson in December 2020, with his swearing-in as a Member of Parliament in January 2021, was unconstitutional, null, void, and of no legal effect.
This is because, at the time of filing his nomination with the Electoral Commission to contest the parliamentary election in 2020, he held dual nationalities as a Ghanaian and a Canadian.
The voting process was generally peaceful. However, two persons were arrested for allegedly interfering with the voting process.
Prior to the start of voting, EC officials together with the political party agents, thoroughly examined the electoral materials at each polling station and agreed on the position of the voting booth.
Agents for all the Candidates, particularly the NPP and NDC were present at all centers.
The Candidate for LPG had four agents at the 13 polling stations in Assin-Breku according to the GNA.
There was heavy security presence across the polling centres.
Some security officers were also positioned at strategic locations, particularly, road intersections to manage traffic.
Security was beefed up to cover adjoining districts, such as Assin South, Assin Central in the Central Region, and Adansi South in the Ashanti Region.
The two major political parties – the governing NPP and NDC, at a security meeting on Monday, pledged to play their respective roles in ensuring peace before, during, and after the by-election.
According to the GNA, In the 2020 presidential election, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo beat Mr. John Dramani Mahama by about 1000 votes in the Constituency, whilst Mr. Quayson, the NDC Candidate, beat the then incumbent NPP Candidate, Abena Durowaa Mensah, by 3,305 votes.
In 2016, President Akufo-Addo beat Mr. Mahama by less than 2,000 votes, whilst the NPP’s Abena Mensah snatched the parliamentary seat from the NDC incumbent, Samuel Ambre, beating him by 4,802 votes.
In 2012, then-President Mahama beat the NPP’s Nana Akufo-Addo by about 3,000 votes in the presidential election, whilst Samuel Ambre of the NDC beat the NPP’s Ebenezer Appiah-Kubi by 2,057 votes.
Before then, the NPP had held the seat.