Voting is underway in the Ayawaso East Constituency of the Greater Accra Region on Tuesday, as residents troop to the polls to elect a new Member of Parliament in what has shaped up to be one of the most closely watched by-elections in recent memory.

Voting has started smoothly at the 113 polling stations in the constituency, where the Electoral Commission is conducting the by-election.

The EC has confirmed that 49,966 voters are on the electoral roll, with polls having opened at 7 a.m. and scheduled to close at 5 p.m.

Five candidates are contesting the race, including former Ghana High Commissioner to Nigeria Baba Jamal, representing the National Democratic Congress, and Yussif Baba Ali of the New Patriotic Party. Independent candidate Alhaji Mohammed Umaru Sanda — who recently severed ties with the NDC — is also on the ballot, alongside Ibrahim Iddrisu of the Liberal Party of Ghana and independent candidate David Kannor.

The by-election was triggered by the death of sitting MP Naser Toure Mahama, who passed away on January 4, 2026, after a brief illness. Mr Toure had represented the seat on the NDC ticket and had been re-elected in the 2024 general elections.

He was a four-term legislator widely respected in the constituency.

The EC moved swiftly to fill the vacant seat. Director of Research at the EC, Fred Tetteh, assured voters ahead of the poll that all logistics — including biometric verification devices, ballot boxes, and electoral registers — were fully in place, with about 455 officers and 130 temporary staff deployed to manage the exercise.

Security has been a key feature of the day's arrangements.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Command declared its readiness for the exercise, confirming that sufficient personnel had been deployed to all designated polling stations to ensure a peaceful and transparent process.

Pre-election polling has pointed heavily in one direction. A recent survey by Global InfoAnalytics projected Baba Jamal to secure 75 per cent of valid votes cast, with NPP's Baba Ali forecast to obtain 21 per cent, and independent candidate Umaru Sanda Muhammed projected at 3 per cent.

A last-minute legal challenge against the conduct of the by-election was dismissed by a court on Monday, March 2, clearing the way for voting to proceed without interruption.

With polls closing at 5 p.m., counting and collation are expected to begin immediately after, with results anticipated later in the evening.