The Electoral Commission (EC,) will this afternoon declare the final results of the presidential run-off. As of press time yesterday, the EC had declared 200 constituency results at the Ghana International Press Centre, with the flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor John Evans Atta Mills in a slight lead. The run-off between the two parties became necessary after the general election on December 7, 2008 failed to produce a clear winner. In that race, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo came ahead with 4,159,439 votes, representing 49.13 per cent of the valid votes cast, only 0.97 per cent short of the 50 per cent threshold required by the constitution. His closest rival at the time, Prof. Mills,, polled 4,056,634 votes, representing 47.92 per cent, to send the race into a run-off. It was the second time in the Fourth Republic that a presidential election had failed to produce a clear winner in the first round. In the 2000 presidential election, then candidate John Agyekum Kufuor obtained 3,104,393 votes, representing 48.44 per cent of the 6,408,231 valid votes cast, while Prof. Mills, the then Vice President, polled 2,871,051, representing 44.80 per cent of the total valid votes cast, to push the race into a run-off which President Kufuor eventually won. In a happy mood, Prof. Mills told some of his supporters at his campaign office yesterday that they should receive the results which the EC would eventually come up with as a victory for the people and Ghana's democracy, reports Timothy Gobah. He called on Ghanaians to bury the bitterness that characterised the campaign and work together towards building a strong and united nation. He was addressing hundreds of jubilant party faithful and supporters at the office at Kuku Hill, Osu. He said should the verdict be declared in his favour by the EC for him to become president which he expects, he would unite all Ghanaians, regardless of their party affiliation. "I believe it is time to unite a polarised country and bring everyone on board to build a peaceful country for the comfort of all, regardless of tribe or creed," he said. Prof. Mills commended Ghanaians for their resolution to enhance the nation's democracy by coming out in their numbers to exercise their franchise peacefully. He said the EC had not finished its work but he was optimistic that he would emerge the winner at the end of the process. He called on the supporters of the NDC to jubilate in moderation when thy results were declared in his favour and not to provoke others. Source: Daily Graphic