Tema, Dec 10, GNA - Some residents in the Tema Metropolis have expressed mixed feelings about the inability of the presidential candidates of the two major parties to win the December 7, 2008 election in the first round.

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party polled 49.13 per cent while Professor John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) also polled 47.92 per cent leading to a run-off on December 28 this year.

While some of the residents expressed disappointment at the inability of their candidate winning the seat in the first round, others were happy they would get the chance to change their vote. At Tema Community One, some voters who voted for the NPP in the first round told the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday that they would change their voting pattern in the second round to enable the NDC win the presidential race to correspond with their majority win in parliament. They explained that even if the NPP wins, ruling the country would be difficult for them since the NDC would use their majority in parliament to sabotage its policies.

Others in the same vicinity and the Tema main market, who voted for either the NPP or NDC on December 7, stated that they would not change their vote to favour their opponents.

They also commended the media for feeding the public with the results promptly which has led to a peaceful, free and fair election. Mr Mustapha Darko, Chairman of the Tema East NDC, expressed disappointment that even though the party had won most of the seats in seven regions, it was unable to win the presidency. Mr Darko said the run-off would give the party another chance to campaign and convince the electorates, who did not vote in the previous election, to do.

He also called on the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to intensify their education on the correct thumb printing of ballot papers to avoid excessive wastes of ballot papers. They also called on the Electoral Commission to correct every irregularity which includes validating the back of ballot papers in advance and preventing party agents from doing their work at some of the polling stations.

The GNA was unable to get the reaction of the NPP and the Convention People's Party (CPP) on the run off as their offices were closed. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Police John Kudalor, Tema Regional Police Commander told the Ghana News Agency that Tema Metropolis and Ashaiman Municipality enjoyed incident free during the elections and prayed that the electorates do same during the round-off.