Ec Holds Forum For Parliamentary Candidates

The Electoral Commission (EC) today in Accra held an encounter with Parliamentary Candidates from the Greater Accra Region. The aim is to interact, sensitize and give them first hand information on electoral procedures and processes as well as what is expected of them on Election Day.    

The programme, which is being funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and facilitated by KAB Governance Consult in collaboration with the EC, is to afford the aspiring parliamentary candidates to be abreast with electoral Laws at the polling station as well as comply with rules and regulations binding the electoral process.

Addressing the participants, the Chairman of the Electoral Commission, Dr Kojo Afari Gyan, disclosed that Government has procured 50 pick-up vehicles to the EC to be distributed to political parties contesting the election

in the region. He noted that the distribution will be based on the number of parliamentary candidates a political party files.

Dr Afari Gyan said the EC has cleaned the voters' register by removing Three Hundred and Forty Nine names constituting minors and foreigners. He anticipated that the voters' register is being blotted by Seventy Six Thousand names of multiple voters after the registration exercise and added that EC will do all it can to clean the register before the voting day.

According to the Chairman, the Parliamentary Candidates must appoint credible polling agents who will supervise their activities at the station, in order to avoid confusion. He said the EC is expected to begin an intensive training programme for the polling agents to upgrade their knowledge on election processes especially at the polling station.

Dr Afari Gyan condemned  the assertion that more ballot papers are being printed in some constituencies than the others, saying the ballot papers are printed based on the number of names in the voters registers. He called participants not to relent reporting their complaints to the Commission rather than resorting to journalists.

Dr Afari Gyan assured them that EC will ensure all rules and regulations governing the polls are adhered to in order to ensure a free, fair and transparent election.