Ghanaian scholars often argue that ethnicity is the leading factor shaping
the electoral choices of voters in Ghana, and that voting in Ghana, like that
of many other African countries, is ethnic-based. This paper seeks to test the
validity of these perceptions. Voters in three key constituencies were selected
and asked about considerations that shaped their voting preferences in
Ghana’s latest election in 2016. Their answers indicate a complicated mixture
of motives which suggest that in areas believed to have been politically shaped
by ethnic identities, voter choice is instrumental and rational, influenced
more by bread and butter concerns than by ethnic loyalty.