The Electoral Commission (EC) has justified the increment in filing fees for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The Commission announced GHS100,000 as filing fees for presidential candidates; a 100% increment from the GHS50,000 fee charged in 2016.
It also announced a GHS10,000 filing fee for parliamentary candidates.
A Deputy Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Bossman Eric Asare insisted that the increment is in tandem with the value of the currency.
“In each particular year, it is important you look at the value of GHS50,000 in 2016, then compare it to GHS50,000 in 2020 then you will notice that the Commission has not increased it much. And even when you look at the [filing fee for] parliamentary [aspirants], the GHS10,000, you will realise that the Commission has reduced the price because we all know that GHS10,000 in 2016, is not the same as GHS10,000 in 2020. The Commission is doing this to promote multiparty democracy.”
All aspirants have also been directed to submit their forms in quadruplicates.
Candidates can only access the forms via unique passwords to be provided to General Secretaries of the various political parties.
Independent candidates can, however, access the passwords from the IT department of the Commission through their representatives.
Presidential nomination forms are to be submitted to the Chairperson of the EC who is the Returning Officer for the Presidential Election at the headquarters of the Electoral Commission by the candidates or their supporters.
For all parliamentary aspirants, they are also to present their forms to the Returning Officers of the constituencies to which the candidate is seeking election at the district office of the Commission by the candidate or his or her proposer or seconder.
Credit; citinewsroom
