DOUBLE Endorsements...EC Must Have A Database On Signatories - Boakye Agyarko

The Electoral Commission (EC) has disqualified 13 Presidential aspirants from contesting the 2016 elections.

EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei cited several reasons for disqualifying the candidates but primarily noted that they couldn't meet the necessary requirements.

Key requisites for the Presidential candidates to be qualified is for them to have their nomination forms signed by two registered voters in every district (432 valid endorsements required) and also one voter is not permitted to endorse more than one Presidential candidate.

In some instances, the disqualified candidates failed to have all signatories on the forms.

One candidate was noted to have had a voter endorse him and another candidate which is against the electoral laws and according to the EC Boss, there will be criminal charges against the candidate.

Addressing the issue on Peace FM's Kokrokoo, Mr Boakye Agyarko, Policy Advisor to the flag bearer of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo said the EC is partly to blame for the disqualification of the candidates.

According to him, the current EC appears disorganized and not able to get its activities together.

Mr Boakye Agyarko opined that the EC could have avoided this situation if it had given ample time to the candidates to file their forms.

He was of the view that the candidates could have had about a year prior to the elections to mobilize their signatories and cross-check their forms to ensure they have it intact to meet the requirements.

The 2012 NPP Campaign Manager further advised the EC to create a database of the signatories to the various Presidential aspirants in order to avoid double signing of documents or double endorsements.

He noted that the database will help the candidates to verify if a signatory on their form has already endorsed a different candidate before they finally file their forms.

"...how can these candidates know if a signatory on their form had already endorsed a different candidate?" he quizzed.

To him, the cases of double endorsements or signatories might have been an oversight on the part of the candidates and so, they can't be entirely blamed for failing to notice that their signatories had already endorsed different candidates.