As Ghanaians prepare to go to the polls 7 December, a senior official said the voting pattern in the country would not change.

Patrick Twumasi, presidential adviser on policy management, said the ruling National Democratic Congress would be returned to power for the third consecutive time.

Opposition parties have said the absence of President Jerry Rawlings would cost the party the vote, both for parliament and the Castle, the seat of government.

However, Twumasi said despite the increase in the number of political parties and individuals contesting in the ballot, the voting pattern would not be any different from those of 1992 and 1996.

"I am confident that Ghanaians are fully aware that it took the Rawlings government to lift the economy from below zero to this appreciable level," the national news agency quoted him as saying.

"The absence of President Jerry John Rawlings from the 7 December presidential race will not be much of a determining factor in the voting pattern as the legacy of peace, stability and accountability," he added.

The National Reform Party, which is a breakaway group of the ruling party, and the United Ghana Movement, which is a breakaway from the New Patriotic Party, are contesting the poll.

The Convention People's Party has brought together most of the factions of the Nkrumah heritage and is stronger on the ground than in 1992 and 1996.

The ruling party is putting up Vice President John Evans Atta Mills, as Rawlings, who came to power in a bloody coup 20 years ago, is completing his second four-year term.