Electoral Commission Shakes Tables Again: Restates Intent To Make Ghana Card Sole ID For Voter Registration

• The Electoral Commission has criticised Parliament for opposing moves to make the Ghana Card the sole registration document
• The EC chair, Jean Mensa, insisted that the Ghana Card is the best way to ensure the integrity of the electoral roll
• Mensa said the existing guarantor system was compromised and had outlived its usefulness

The Electoral Commission (EC) has rekindled the controversy over using the Ghana Card as the sole voter registration document.

The commission’s chair, Jean Mensa, criticised Parliament for opposing the Constitutional Instrument seeking to enforce this change.

Speaking to the press on August 17, 2023, Mensa maintained that the Ghana Card is the surest way to ensure the integrity of Ghana’s electoral roll.

“With regard to the CI that is before Parliament, we do not intend to put back the guarantor system because we do not believe that the guarantor system has worked for us,” she said.

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Mensa further argued that making the Ghana Card guarantor system was compromised ahead of the 2020 election.

She noted that 40,000 minors and foreigners were challenged during the process and about 15,000 names were removed from the register.

“Our experience with the 2020 Registration Exercise showed that several minors and foreigners using the window of the guarantor system found their way onto our roll."

Voters' registration exercise to start September 12, 2023

The EC will hold a voters’ registration exercise targeted at individuals who have reached the voting age of 18.

This continuous voter registration will run from Tuesday, September 12, 2023, to Monday, October 2, 2023.

The registration will take place at all 268 district offices across the nation.

Addressing the press, the Electoral Commissioner, Jean Mensa, also noted that misplaced voter ID cards would be replaced at a fee of GH¢10.

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Warning against rigging from NDC MP

YEN.com.gh reported that Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, the North Tongu MP, warned the EC against any sinister plan to rig the upcoming elections in 2024 for the NPP.

The NDC MP said he suspected that the EC's insistence on making the Ghana Card the only ID for registration to vote was suspicious.

Ablakwa held that such moves were dangerous and could spell doom for Ghana's democracy.

There were also concerns that EC wanted to compile a brand-new register.

Source: YEN.com.gh