A total of 1,650 candidates, comprising 1,592 males and 58 females have filed their nominations to contest the District level Elections (DLE) in the Western Region slated for September 1, this year.

In addition, a total of 4,293 filed for the unit level elections made up of 3,970 males and 323 females, however, no one has picked nomination form in five units, including Nzema East, Sefwi-Wiawso and Jomoro districts.

Mr. Steve Opoku-Mensah, Western Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), made this known at a stakeholders’ workshop for civil society organisations, faith-based organisations, public interest groups, community-based organisations and the media, in Takoradi, over the weekend.

It was held on the theme,”Enhancing Participation and Stakeholder Confidence in Ghana’s Electoral Process’, which was organized by the EC and funded by the European Union.

The participants were taken through topics such as electoral offences, electoral reforms, regulations guiding the DLE, main features of the elections, importance of a Ghanaian voter, as well as election monitoring and observation guidelines.

Mr. Opoku-Mensah indicated that the DLE was non-partisan and urged the candidates to avoid using intemperate language and acts of violence in their campaign.

He said bad governance could lead to chaos and, therefore, advised the electorate to vote for competent and patriotic candidates, who could manage the state resources judiciously.

The regional EC Director warned the DLE candidates to avoid campaigning on any political party platform or using colours of notable political parties on their posters, and stated that, anyone found culpable of electoral offence would be disqualified or fined 250 penalty units, which is equivalent to GH?3000.00.

“The EC will soon commence training of its electoral officials and mount a common campaign platform for DLE candidates across the country, starting from August 20, this year”, he announced.

The participants urged the EC to remain neutral in election matters at all times in order to win the confidence of the electorate and sustain electoral education so that the people would be adequately informed to make the right choice.