The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers has fully backed the Electoral Commission’s decision to disqualify 12 candidates who filed nominations to contest in this year’s presidential election.

The Electoral Commission Monday announced that 12 presidential aspirants out of 17 have been barred from contesting in the December polls with one person’s fate yet to be decided. This decision by the EC has attracted massive backlash from the affected political parties with some threatening legal action.

Presidential aspirants who had even contested in previous elections were victims of this disqualification.

Notable names like Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom of the PPP, Dr Edward Mahama of the PNC, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings all could not meet the EC’s criteria.

In an interview with 3FM News, National Coordinator of CODEO, Albert Kofi Arhin explains that the EC did not err in applying the laws guiding the process.

“The law is the law, once the law is there and there are regulations, there are certain things that have to be done and there are certain things that have to be met, if you look at the report that the EC has issued, there are reports of people who are forging signatures on the nomination and you can see that the question of criminality is running through almost all those who have been disqualified and I think that is not good enough”.

He wondered why presidential aspirants seeking the highest office of the land could commit such errors.

“Somebody who wants to be a president of a nation like Ghana, if you are filling a nomination form, you need to be meticulous, you need to find out about the background of the people who are supporting you,” he said