The Electoral Commission (EC) has warned that it will cancel the nomination of any district assembly candidate who uses the name, motto, colour or symbol associated with a political party.
The EC said its decision was based on the District Level Elections Regulations, 2015, (C.I. 89), which stipulate that district level elections should be non-partisan.
A statement issued by the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of operations, Mr Amadu Sulley, said: “Candidates are to note that they shall present themselves as individuals and shall not use the name, motto, colour or symbol associated with a political party or organisation.”
It again reminded candidates that Regulation 4(1)(b) “allows a candidate to have only the name and photograph on his/her poster.”
The statement said for the avoidance of doubt, the poster of a candidate must not have any symbol or colour apart from the photograph and the name of that candidate.
“Any candidate who contravenes any of the provisions of the law will have his/her nomination cancelled by the Commission,” it said.
New date
The EC set September 1, 2015, for the district assembly elections. The new date follows a Supreme Court ruling which declared the one slated for March 3, 2015, as unconstitutional.
The Supreme Court, on February 27, ruled that holding the elections on March 3 would be unconstitutional and therefore ordered the EC to reopen nominations and fix a new date for the polls.
This was after an aspirant from Winneba, Benjamin Eyi Mensah, filed a writ at the court seeking an injunction on the elections.
He argued that even before the CI 85, which was to guide the conduct of the elections could come into effect, the EC had opened and closed nominations.
According to him, as a law-abiding citizen, he had waited for the CI to come into effect before filing his nomination, and when it took effect, he went to the office of the EC in Winneba to file his documents only to find, to his utter shock, that the EC had closed nominations.
The CI 89 has now been passed into law by Parliament.
Credit: Graphic
