Election surveys are not sacrosanct – NDC

The National Communications Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sammy Gyamfi, has said that even if the survey done by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana which predicted victory for the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is anything to go by, it does not necessarily mean that the party will win the elections on December 7.

According to him, polls have always been failing hence there is no need to worry what the lecturers have put out.

He explained that “in 2016 Ben Ephson predicted victory for the NDC but we lost. In 2008 the EIU predicted victory for the NPP but Professor Mills won so polls are not sacrosanct”.

He said these at a press conference on Thursday, November 26.

The survey conducted by the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana ahead of the December 7 elections puts President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ahead with 51.7 per cent of votes if the elections were held today.

The survey also noted that some 40.4 per cent will vote for the opposition leader, John Dramani Mahama.

A further 1.4 per cent of voters, according to the survey, will vote for the Ghana Union Movement’s Rev. Christian Andrews, also known as Osofo Kyiri Abosom.

The survey, which sampled nearly 12,000 registered voters in 100 swing constituencies across the 16 regions of Ghana, also revealed corruption is not a key determinant for voters in the December 7 elections.

Presenting findings of the survey, Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Political Science Department Kaakyire Frempong said many of the voters maintain campaign messages will form the basis for their vote.

He pointed out that 51 per cent of voters think incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) MPs will retain their seats in Parliament while 35 per cent of seats are up for grabs.

Some 13 per cent of the voters say MPs are likely to be changed, he said.

“It can be argued that this election is solely contested on policy-based issues. In this election, the economic issues have been framed around tangible and implementable policies. For the Ghanaian voter, their choice is for the candidate who has the capacity to carry through with transformational policies. Therefore, it did not come as a surprise when 62.2 per cent of voters said the Free Senior High School programme offers hope to their future aspirations.

“It is interesting from voters’ respondents captured in Table 5 that the banking restructuring exercise that was greeted with cynicism and lamentations by the affected customers and business owners would have no effect on voters’ choices at the polls (0.7%). The voters have confirmed the policy-driven voting paradigm in contemporary elections.

“A majority of Ghanaian voters said they believe in the policies and programs being implemented by the incumbent government ( 61.7%). Only a minority 26.8% expressed lack of faith in the incumbent’s policies and 11.5% declined to make a response,” he said.