Ballot paper positions: NSMQ, PRESEC pop up in prediction for a John Mahama victory in Dec

An interesting theory for victory for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has popped up on social media.

The prediction is based on two constants: the Number 2 position of the NDC on the ballot paper for the upcoming elections and PRESEC’s victory in the just-ended National Science and Maths Quiz (NSMQ).

According to the theory, in 2008, the Presbyterian Boys' Secondary School won the popular NSMQ and in that same year, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) picked the Number 1 position on the ballot paper.

In the elections later that year, the NDC, whose candidate at the time was late President John Evans Atta Mills, was on the Number 2 position on the ballot and won the presidential polls against then opposition candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.

Holding the same factors of NSMQ winners and the ballot positions of the two main political parties in the upcoming elections on December 7 as constants, the theory has predicted a win for NDC’s John Dramani Mahama.

This year, PRESEC won the NSMQ and the NPP and NDC have picked the Number 1 and Number 2 positions on the ballot, respectively.

The theory was first shared on the Twitter handle of the NDC Deputy Youth Organiser, Edem Agbana.

Someone sent me this !

In 2008

Presec won NSMQ
NPP was in power
Nana Addo was number 1
NDC won

In 2020

Presec won NSMQ
NPP is in power
Nana Addo is number 1
NDC victory... loading..

— #EndSARS (@edemagbana) October 20, 2020

Positions on a ballot paper for elections in Ghana are very crucial as they can lead to memorable slogans being conjured through accidental or occasional music.

Many believe a candidate’s position on a ballot paper can be easily remembered if the pundits conjure the right interpretation, and get the electorate to accept such interpretations as credible.

In the 2000 general election, John Agyekum Kufuor of the NPP was placed bottom and commercial drivers on the Accra - Cape Coast Highway greeted each other with a thumbs down while saying “Asee Ho”, meaning the bottom.