Join hands to ensure success of polls — EC boss

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Mrs Charlotte Osei, has asked all Ghanaians to come on board to ensure incidence-free polls on December 7.

She explained that any move to achieve free, fair, credible and transparent elections was not the responsibility of the EC alone. 

She said it was equally the responsibility of the candidates and their appointed agents, the media, as well as the public, to guarantee credible elections. 

She, therefore, urged the candidates and the polling agents to play their respective roles dutifully and in good faith to ensure a peaceful electoral process. 

Mrs Osei made the call in Accra yesterday when she launched the 2016 guide to candidates and their agents for presidential and parliamentary elections.

Guide details

The guide is to help potential candidates and their agents to understand the nomination and electoral processes and to outline the responsibilities they are undertaking when seeking to be elected to the office of President or Parliament.  

It also highlights the duties and responsibilities of the agents who will represent the candidates at the 29,000 polling stations and the 275 constituency collation centres.  

The guide is divided into three parts. Part One contains guidelines on the process for becoming a presidential or  parliamentary candidate, as well as other useful information.  

The second part deals with the important role of polling agents, their duties and responsibilities and spells out what they can do and what they cannot do. 

Part Three gives general information on the elections that may be useful for the candidates and their agents.   

Mrs Osei said the EC believed the guide was a source of basic information on the electoral process as it related to the candidates, but it was not at all meant to be exhaustive and by no means intended to be a substitute for the electoral laws. 

Nominations

The EC Chairperson said so far as many as 23 people had picked presidential nomination forms.  

“This is made up of 16 political parties and seven independent presidential aspirants. Hundreds of parliamentary aspirants have also done same. They are all going through the required processes in order to submit their nominations and become confirmed as candidates for the 2016 elections,” she said.