Ghana practises both the majoritarian and First-Past-the-Post electoral systems. In presidential elections, the winner is the candidate who earns a majority percentage of the valid votes cast.

A second round election is conducted for the candidates who obtained the two highest numbers of votes, if no candidate earns a majority in the first round. In Parliamentary elections however, this majoritarian clause does not apply, and a candidate is declared the winner if he/she earns more votes than any other candidate. An issue for determination by referendum is taken to be determined if at least thirty-five per cent of the persons entitled to vote at the referendum voted and, of the valid votes cast, at least seventy per cent voted in favour of the issue.

The constitution of Ghana specifies when and where the counting of votes cast at an election should be carried out. It says: "Immediately after the close of the poll, the presiding officer shall, in the presence of such of the candidates or their representatives and their polling agents as are present, proceed to count, at that polling station, the ballot papers of that station and record the votes cast in favour of each candidate or question." Counting is done manually.

Appointment and Training of Election Officials

The electoral commission of Ghana employs permanent officers to manage its offices at the national, regional, and district levels. In addition, it appoints temporary staff whenever it embarks on an exercise involving registration of voters, demarcation of electoral boundaries, or elections (including referenda). The highest temporary electoral appointment is the electoral district officer who, assisted by two deputies, is in charge of a district.

There is a presiding officer and usually two polling assistants at each polling station. For a national election, therefore, the commission employs as many as 60,320 temporary officials to man the 120 districts and 20,000 polling stations. Most of the temporary staff includes very senior public servants, especially teachers, and senior students.

Wherever possible, people with past experience at an election are considered for appointment. One important consideration for appointment is that a person has not shown any active affiliation with, or support for, a particular political party, candidate, or an issue to be determined at a referendum. As much as practicable, the officials are also appointed from the area they are to operate in. Public approval for their neutrality and ability to hold the office is sought by publishing the names of the electoral district officers in the national newspapers, and those of the junior officers in the areas where they will work.

The political parties are, in addition, given the names and addresses of all temporary staff. Both the political parties and the general public are allowed to make reasonable objections to a temporary staff appointment.

The officials must attend the training exercise, regardless of whether or not they have had election experience. The training of temporary staff is always carried out close to the election. The trainers are usually permanent senior staff of the commission and proven qualified electoral district officers. The trainers themselves undergo a training of trainers (TOT) exercise organized by the Public Education and Training (PET) division at the national level. The trainers for the TOT are professional (university) trainers and some members of the electoral commission (the Board of the Commission).

The training session is planned to allow the trainees or trainers to be able to go through the election operations manual, and role-play the election. No training is carried out at the polling stations, but presiding officers are encouraged to hold briefing meetings with their staff at the polling station before the poll starts. (Copies of training and operations manuals are supplied.) Candidates' agents are allowed to attend the training sessions. In Ghana the term "election official" is used to mean the officer in charge of the poll taking and counting exercises.

The officer therefore doubles for both on Election Day. The training also involves both aspects of the election. It is normal to train a few more than the number of officials required, and some will serve on a standby basis. The polling station structure is such that the voter population per station is not so big as to require long periods of counting. Most polling stations have less than one thousand voters, and some actually have less than five hundred voters on their lists.

Vote Counting

Immediately after the polls close, the presiding officer, in the presence of those candidates or their agents, and any other persons permitted to attend the count:

• ensures that the seal on the ballot box is securely intact;
• opens the ballot box and takes out all the ballot papers in the box;
• makes a pile of the ballot papers cast for each candidate or issue;
• proceeds to count the ballot papers, sorting spoiled and rejected ballots separately; and
• records the total number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or issue.

During the count the presiding officer takes a ballot paper, announces for whom or which issue it was cast, and allows any representatives and observers present to check the proof of his announcement. If there is no disagreement, he adds it to the pile of the particular candidate or issue.

If there is any disagreement over the ballot, the presiding officer will pass it around for close examination by the agents, to reach a consensus decision, but the presiding officer has the final word. All rejected and spoiled ballot papers are put together in a separate pile.

Any of the following reasons cause rejection of a ballot paper:

• there is no mark made at all;
• it is not evident for whom or which issue the voter made the mark;
• the voter has voted for more than one candidate or issue; or
• the ballot paper does not carry a validating stamp of that polling station.

When the vote counting is completed, a candidate or his agent may require the presiding officer to have the votes recounted, and the officer must comply. However, a second request for a recount may be carried out only at the electoral district centre by the electoral district officer or his deputy.

At the end of the count, the presiding officer and the candidates or their representatives (agents) sign a declaration, stating:

• the total number of persons entitled to vote at the polling station,
• the number of ballot papers issued,
• the number of votes cast in favour of each candidate or issue, and
• the number of spoiled and rejected ballot papers. The presiding officer then announces the results of the voting at that polling station and gives copies of the results declaration form to each candidate (or agent), and posts another copy at the station.

As soon as possible after the announcement of the voting results at the polling station, the presiding officer in the presence of the candidates or their agents puts the ballots of each candidate or issue into separate packets and seals them with his own seal and the seals of the candidates or their agents if they so desire. The packets are then put into the ballot box, along with the following other documents:

• the unused, spoiled, and rejected ballot papers packaged together;
• the tendered ballot papers, the tendered voters' list, and any declarations made, packaged together; and
• the marked copies of the register and the counterfoils of the used ballot papers.

The presiding officer then puts his seal (and those of the candidates or their agents) on the ballot box and delivers the box to the electoral district officer.

Collation of Votes at Electoral District Centre

The electoral district officer makes arrangements for collating the votes in his electoral district in the presence of the candidates and or their agents as soon as possible after the close of the poll. The electoral district officer is required to give the candidates or their agents sufficient notice of the time and place of the collation of votes.

During the collation, the electoral district officer shall take the sealed ballot boxes from the various polling stations under his jurisdiction, and open them one at a time, after the candidates (or their agents) have inspected each to make sure the seals are intact.

He takes the recorded results of each polling station and reads it aloud in the hearing of everyone present. He then takes them to find the totals for each candidate or issue. He will also carry out a recount of any ballot box, if there was a request for a second recount at the polling station. At the end of the collation, the electoral district officer:

• announces the total number of votes cast for each candidate;
• publicly declares the winner of the election;
• endorses on the writ the name of the winner; and
• forwards the endorsed writ to the commission.

In a Parliamentary election, on receipt of a writ as prescribed by law, the commission publishes in the Gazette a notice stating the name of the person elected and the total number of votes cast for each candidate, and informs the Clerk of Parliament soon thereafter of the name(s) of the candidate(s) elected.

In the case of a presidential election or a national referendum, the results declared by the various electoral district officers throughout the country are collated to determine the national result. The commission then causes a Gazette notice to be published, stating the name of the candidate elected. No court certification is required.

Petition against Election Results

Within twenty-one days after the date of the publication in the Gazette of an election result, a candidate, or a person who lawfully voted, or had a right to vote, or other qualified persons may present a petition to a High Court to declare the said result to be void, or grant any other relief sought by the petitioner.