2016 Ghanaian general election

2016 Ghanaian general election

← 2012 7 December 2016 2020 →
Presidential election
Turnout	69.25%
Nominee Nana Akufo-Addo John Mahama Party NPP NDC Popular vote 5,755,758 4,771,188 Percentage 53.72% 44.53%
President before election John Mahama NDC President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo NPP
Parliamentary election
All 275 seats in Parliament 138 seats needed for a majority
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– NPP Nana Akufo-Addo 52.48 169 +47 NDC John Mahama 42.28 106 −42 This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Speaker before Speaker after Edward Adjaho NDC Aaron Mike Oquaye NPP
Maps
Presidential election results by region Presidential election results by constituency

Politics of Ghana
Constitution
Executive President (list) Nana Akufo-Addo Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia Ministers Council of State
Legislative Speaker of the Parliament Alban Sumana Bagbin Parliament Members of Parliament
Judiciary Supreme Court Chief Justice: Gertrude Torkornoo Human rights
Elections Constituencies Political parties Politicians Electoral Commission Recent elections General: 2016 2020 2024
Administrative divisions Regions Districts
Foreign relations Ministry for Foreign Affairs Minister: Shirley Ayorkor Botchway Diplomatic missions of / in Ghana Nationality law Passport Visa requirements Visa policy
Africa portal Politics portal Other countries
v t e

General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament.^[1] They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016,^[2] but the date was later rejected by Parliament.^[1] Former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party was elected President on his third attempt, defeating incumbent President John Mahama of the National Democratic Congress.

The election results were announced on 9 December 2016 due to a delay of voting in two areas. At 19:51 local time, Mahama called Akufo-Addo to concede defeat. At 20:45, the Electoral Commission declared that Akufo-Addo had defeated Mahama in a single round. It was the first time in Ghana's history that a sitting president had been defeated for reelection.

The president is elected using the two-round system, whilst the 275 members of Parliament are elected in single-member constituencies using first-past-the-post voting.

Eligible voters must be Ghanaian citizens aged 18 or over, although those declared insane are disenfranchised. Parliamentary candidates must be Ghanaian citizens at least 21 years old, and either be resident in their constituency or have lived there for at least five of the ten years prior to the election.^[3]

Over 16 people filed with the election commission to run for president. However, 13 presidential candidates were disqualified due to incorrect filing procedures. The disqualified candidates included former first lady Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, the president of the National Democratic Party.^[4] There was some controversy due to allegations that the candidates were disqualified for political reasons. The Electoral Commission denied all accusations. After the disqualification, only four presidential candidates remained. However, the presidential candidate of the Progressive People's Party (PPP) Paa Kwesi Nduom took the EC to court over his disqualification. The court finally ruled in his favour, allowing him to join the race.^[5] Two other candidates who were disqualified also followed suit, leading to there being seven candidates.

Ivor Greenstreet from the Convention People's Party was the first physically challenged candidate to contest a presidential election.^[6]

Incumbent John Mahama was eligible for a second full term since he had ascended to the presidency with only six months remaining in the term of his predecessor and running mate, John Atta Mills. In Ghana, when a vice-president ascends to the presidency with more than half of a presidential term remaining, he is only allowed to run for a single full term in his own right. If more than half of the term has expired, the vice-president is eligible for two full terms.^[14]

A total of 1,144 candidates contested the 275 seats in Parliament. The NDC and NPP both ran full slates of 275 candidates, whilst the CPP (222 candidates) and PPP (163) were the only two other parties to run in over half the seats. The PNC nominated 64 candidates, the NDP 33, the APC 20, the GCPP 10, the UFP six and the DPP and UPP both had only one candidate. The other 74 candidates were independents.^[15]

Region
	Nana Akufo-Addo NPP		John Dramani Mahama NDC
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Ashanti	1,640,694	75.98	503,497	23.32
Brong-Ahafo	531,147	53.87	422,789	44.91
Central	496,668	53.22	405,262	43.43
Eastern	674,240	63.30	379,675	35.65
Greater Accra	1,062,157	52.42	946,048	46.69
Northern	429,375	41.89	569,853	55.59
Upper East	157,398	34.93	271,796	60.32
Upper West	102,843	35.94	167,032	58.37
Volta	135,077	17.38	629,398	80.97
Western	526,159	52.38	455,838	45.38
Source: Electoral Commission Ghana

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	New Patriotic Party	5,661,248	52.48	169	+47
	National Democratic Congress	4,560,491	42.28	106	–42
	Progressive People's Party	186,741	1.73	0	0
	Convention People's Party	69,346	0.64	0	–1
	People's National Convention	42,236	0.39	0	–1
	National Democratic Party	19,450	0.18	0	0
	All People's Congress	2,527	0.02	0	New
	Great Consolidated Popular Party	1,368	0.01	0	0
	United Front Party	896	0.01	0	0
	Democratic People's Party	867	0.01	0	0
	United Progressive Party	430	0.00	0	New
	Independents	241,884	2.24	0	–3
Total		10,787,484	100.00	275	0
Valid votes		10,787,484	98.98
Invalid/blank votes		111,137	1.02
Total votes		10,898,621	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		15,639,690	69.69
Source: Election Passport

• List of MPs elected in the 2016 Ghanaian parliamentary election