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The Electoral Commission(EC) has warned that candidates contesting the forthcoming District Level Elections(DLE) who associate themselves with any political party in their campaign would be disqualified. According to the Commission, the DLE was strictly non-partisan and that candidates seeking elections must present themselves as individuals to be voted for based on their competence and acceptability. Mr. Christian Owusu- Parry, Public Affairs Director of the Commission, gave the caution at a two- day capacity building workshop in election reportage held in Cape Coast for media practitioners in the Central Region. The workshop dubbed �Improving the quality of information in the electoral process� and sponsored by USAID was aimed at providing the media with the technical information on the electoral processes and to reflect on how to improve the quality of election reportage. It was attended by more than 40 media practitioners who were taken through topics such as �Electoral Laws regulating the conduct of district level elections�, �Election terminologies and language�, Role of the media in elections� and �Accreditation�. Mr Parry said it was against the laws governing elections for candidates to use the symbols or paraphernalia of any political party in their campaign or receive their sponsorship. He said a candidate in the Ashanti Region who displayed his political party membership card at the background of his campaign poster had been disqualified. �This measure is to check political party involvement in the District Level Elections� it is strictly non-partisan�, he said. Mr Parry said it was against the DLE regulations for organized groups, not even female groups to sponsor candidates or raise platforms for them adding that such resources should be made available to the Commission to be used for all candidates. He appealed to media practitioners to attach importance to the DLE and whip up interest of competent and qualified persons. Mr Parry advised the media not to rush in declaring winners in elections saying, the power to declare winners in any election was the sole prerogative of the EC and that the media could only announce provisional results. He said that even though delay in declaring results created tension, false declaration could cause more harm and that it was not about speed but accuracy. Mr. Ebo Sackey, a senior media practitioner with the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation who spoke as a media resource person, urged the media to be objective, circumspect in their reportage since the damage caused was often irreparable.