Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) Final Observation Report on Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections TABLE OF CONTENT Table of Content .......................................................................................................................i List of Acronyms ....................................................................................................................iv Preface .....................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgment ..................................................................................................................vii Executive Summary ................................................................................................................1 Key Findings ...........................................................................................................................1 CODEO and Stakeholders’ Review of the 2016 Elections General Recommendations .....................................................................................................5 CHAPTER ONE (1): INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND TO GHANA’S 2016 GENERAL ELECTIONS .....................................................................................................8 1.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................8 1.1 Political Background to Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections ............8 CHAPTER TWO (2): THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE 2016 ELECTIONS .....................................................................................................13 2.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................13 2.1 The Legal Framework for the Conduct of Elections in Ghana .......................................13 2.2 The Electoral Commission ..............................................................................................15 2.3.5 Controversy over Cleaning of Voter Register ..............................................................17 2.3.4 The 2016 Limited Voter Registration Exercise ............................................................17 2.3.5 The Exhibition of the Voter Register ............................................................................18 2.3.6 Nomination of Candidates ............................................................................................18 CHAPTER THREE (3): CODEO AND ITS INTERVENTIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE 2016 ELECTIONS-AN OVERVIEW .......................................................................20 3.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................20 3.1 CODEO and Election Observation over the Years ..........................................................20 3.1.1 Objectives of CODEO ..................................................................................................21 3.2 Preparations for the 2016 Elections: Revitalizing for Effective Engagement .................22 3.3 Launch of CODEO Election 2016 Project ......................................................................22 3.4 CODEO and Stakeholder Visitations/Consultations .......................................................23 CHAPTER FOUR (4): OBSERVING THE PRE-ELECTION ENVIRONMENT ......24 4.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................24 4.1 The Importance of Pre-Election Observation ..................................................................24 4.2 CODEO’s Pre-Election Environment Observation Activities .........................................24 4.3 Highlights of Findings from Observation of the 2016 Pre-election Environment ..........25 4.5 The 2016 Special Voting Exercise ...................................................................................31 4.6 CODEO’s Recommendations ..........................................................................................31 i Final Report on Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) CHAPTER FIVE (5): CODEO’S PREPARATION TOWARDS ELECTION DAY OBSERVATION ..................................................................................................................34 5.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................34 5.1 Development of Observer Training Materials (Manuals and Observation Checklists) ..34 5.2 Recruitment and Training of Field Personnel (Regional Coordinators, Constituency Supervisors and Election-Day Observers) ............................................................................34 5.3 Accreditation for CODEO Election Observers ...............................................................36 5.4 Setting up of the CODEO Observation Center ...............................................................36 5.5 Simulation Exercise .........................................................................................................36 5.6 CODEO’s Election Day Observation, Deployment and Reporting Strategy ..................36 CHAPTER SIX (6): CODEO’S ELECTION-DAY FINDINGS .....................................38 6.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................38 6.1 Analysis and Findings .....................................................................................................39 6.2 Voting Irregularities and Incidents ..................................................................................41 6.3 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................42 CHAPTER SEVEN (7): CODEO’S PARALLEL VOTE TABULATION OF THE 2016 ELECTIONS - KEY FINDINGS .......................................................................................43 7.0 Introduction ...................................................................................................................43 7.1 The PVT as a Tool for Election Observation ................................................................43 7.2 Conducting a PVT for the 2016 Elections ....................................................................44 7.3 The 2016 PVT Sample ..................................................................................................44 7.4 Training, Deployment and Observation by CODEO PVT Observers ...........................46 7.5 CODEO’s 2016 PVT Findings (as released on December 10, 2016) and the EC’s Official Results (announced on December 9, 2016) ...........................................................................46 7.6 2016 PVT Findings from the 1,491 Polling Stations and Official Results from all 275 Constituencies .......................................................................................................................48 7.7 The 2016 PVT Findings from 1,499 Polling Stations vs. Official Results from 275 Constituencies .......................................................................................................................48 7.8 2016 PVT Estimates in comparison with Past PVT and Official Election Results .......50 7.9 2016 PVT Consistency Checks .....................................................................................52 7.10 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................53 CHAPTER EIGHT (8): CODEO POST-ELECTION ENVIRONMENT OBSERVATION AND REVIEW ACTIVITIES ...............................................................54 8.0 Introduction .....................................................................................................................54 8.1 Post-Election Environment Observation .........................................................................54 8.2 Deployment of Post-Election Observers .........................................................................56 8.3 Key Observations ............................................................................................................56 8.5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................58 Final Report on Ghana’s 2016 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections ii Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) CHAPTER NINE (9): CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ......................59 9.0 Introduction ..............................................................................................................59 9.1 General Commendations...........................................................................................59 9.3 General Recommendations .......................................................................................61 9.4 General Conclusions .................................................................................................63 LIST OF APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Codeo External Communication for Elections 2016 Project Activities .....66 APPENDIX B: Members of the Codeo Advisory Board ......................................................73 APPENDIX C: List of CODEO Member Organizations for the 2016 Elections .................73 APPENDIX D: CODEO 2016 Sub-Committees and