§ 77. Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies to state the aggregate votes cast for the respective parties in the recent Gold Coast elections; the percentage of the electorate that voted; and when the new Government are likely to take office.
§ 2 Mr. J. GriffithsI give below the information asked for in the first two parts of the Question. Consultations are at present taking place in the Gold Coast on the formation of the new Government.
Following in the information:
The aggregate votes cast for the parties in the recent elections for the Gold Coast Assembly were as follows:
Municipal Constituencies:
Convention Peoples Party 58,858 All other parties 5,574 Rural Constituencies:
The votes cast in the Electoral Colleges at the secondary stage of the rural elections were as follows:
Colony:
Convention Peoples Party 1,435 All other parties 566 Ashanti:
Convention Peoples Party 503 All other parties 214 Total Votes cast in Rural Constituencies:
Convention Peoples Party 1,938 All other parties 780 The 33rd Rural Constituency was uncontested.
Municipal Constituencies: The percentage of the registered electorate that voted was 47 per cent.
Rural Constituencies: In many cases villages agreed unanimously at the primary stage to nominate by customary methods only one candidate for election to the Electoral College. As a result an average of only about one-third of the 192W number of primary elections was contested. In the elections for the 33 rural seats, the Electoral Colleges were, with few exceptions, up to full voting strength.