EC TO DISQUALIFY PC ASPIRANTS IN ASHANTI?
The Ashanti Regional Director of the Electoral
Commission, Serebuor Quarcoo, has reminded aspiring Parliamentary Candidates
that the Filing of their Nomination is incomplete without the actual payment of
the Filing Fees.
Their failure to meet the deadline for the payment of the 10
thousand Ghana Cedi Filing Fee by 12 noon today, Monday October 10, could lead to a rejection of
their candidature.
Mr. Quarcoo gave the warning during an interview with Ashanti Today in Kumasi.
A total of 240 persons have submitted their Nomination Forms to their respective Returning Officers to contest in the upcoming Parliamentary elections. They are made up of 35 women, 205 men and 19 Independent aspiring candidates.
He observed also certain serious shortcomings on
the submitted Nomination Forms of some of the Parliamentary candidate aspirants
in the region which could also cost them their candidature.
Mr. Quarcoo said
some of the MP aspirants could not complete their Nomination Forms while
others refused to comply with the legal requirements on the Forms.
He mentioned
specifically that some of the aspirants, completed the Declaration portion of
the Form without the knowledge of a Judge as required by the law.
He noted
however that even though he cannot determine the fate of the aspirants
involved, he is required to make recommendations as to whether or not such
Nomination should be accepted, that would inform the decision of the Electoral
Commission.
Responding to how an aspirant could withdraw after formally
submitting the Forms, the Regional EC Director emphasized that this could only
be done through a written application through the Constituency Returning
Officer and not by word.
Touching on the Votes Transfer exercise that ended
last Friday, Mr. Quarcoo declined to recommend an extension of the exercise,
despite the presence of a huge number of applicants at the various EC’s offices
by close of day on the deadline.
He explained that extending the grace period
for such persons would encourage the people to continue with their ‘last minute’
attitude, which has become the bane of time management in the country.
He disclosed again that a significant number of the applicants had their votes transfer requests refused in the region for presenting suspicious utility bills and Tenancy Agreements meant to abuse the opportunity given them by the elections management body.
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