Final results due in Ghana
2008-12-10 14:11
Accra - Ghana's electoral commission is due to release full provisional results from a weekend crunch election hailed as a model for Africa, officials said on Wednesday.
Partial official results from 211 of the 230 electoral constituencies put ruling party candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in the lead with 3 902 037 votes against 3 777 812 votes for John Atta-Mills of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Unofficial results from 227 constituencies also gave Akufo-Addo the edge with 49.4% of the votes against Mills' 47.7%.
Either candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to avoid a run-off and analysts say it looks unlikely the election will produce a decisive presidential winner.
Most media outlets said their own preliminary tabulation of results pointed to a run-off.
The NDC, whose candidate Mills, is making his third bid for the presidency, said it was poised for victory. Earlier in the week it had accused the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) of trying to rig the election with the help of the country's security forces.
Both the NPP and the military denied the allegations.
Despite opposition claims of vote rigging, independent local and international observers called Sunday's vote open and credible, and peaceful.
The chief electoral commissioner Kwadwo Afari Gyan is expected to announce results at about 14:00 (14:00 GMT). He has until 17:00 (17:00 GMT) to call the election.
The country's security forces said they were stepping up security as part of its post-election plan to keep law and order - mounting check points along main streets in the capital and increase joint police and military patrols, said police spokesperson Kwesi Ofori.
So far the electoral period has been peaceful and observers said Ghana offers hope that the continent needs in the aftermath of elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe.