The National Electoral Commission (NEC) has warned independent candidates against forging signatures as they seek to fulfill criteria for their candidacies.

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The campaign period will begin on June 22 and close on July 13 before voting gets underway from July 14 and 16.

Independent candidates started collecting signatures from April 18 and have up to May 30 to submit it to electoral commission.

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Presidential aspirants are obliged to have 600 signatures from registered voters across the country, which translates to 12 people from each district.

The electoral commission will begin to receive candidacies for the presidency and members of parliament from May 17 to 30.

The electoral body could not divulge the names of presidential aspirants that are collecting signatures by press time but Philippe Mpayimana, who contested in the 2017 presidential elections has expressed interest to vie for the same seat again.

The provisional list of approved candidates for president and parliamentary seats will be announced on June 6.

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The final list of the approved candidates will be announced on June 14.

Oda Gasinzigwa, the chairperson of the National Electoral Commission, said that there are independent candidates for both president and parliament seats..

"We will start recieving candidacies of presidential aspirants from May 17. The independent candidates have to prepare themselves earlier by collecting 600 signatures. This activity started on April 18. Those to give signatures to these independent candidates must be on the voters’ list. The candidates can seek signatures themselves or get other people who represent them in seeking signatures,” she explained.

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"The number of identified independent candidates and names will be announced soon. We have to verify if the signatures are not forged. They should be honest if they want to become leaders. If they forge they will be punished by the law,” she noted.

Campaign period for political parties and independent candidates will begin on June 22 and close on July 13.

She said that 2,441 polling sites and 17, 400 polling rooms have been established across the country while 9.5 million people are expected to vote.

Important election dates

The provisional voters’ list will be announced not later than June 14, while the final list will be announced on June 29.

Rwandans will go to the polls on July 14 and 16.

For Rwandans abroad, voting for the president and 53 members of parliament will take place on July 14.

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For Rwandans in the country, voting for the president and 53 members of parliament takes place on July 15.

On July 16, 24 female members of parliament will be elected by special organs, depending on the administrative structure.

Voting for two members of parliament elected by the National Youth Council and one Member of Parliament elected by the National Council of Persons with Disabilities will also take place on July 16.