Parliament rejects EC's bid to use Ghana Card as sole ID for voter registration

Parliament has rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) proposed Constitu­tional Instrument (CI) which seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole document for registration as a voter.

The Chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Jean Adukwei Mensa told Parliament's Subsidiary Legislation Committee that contrary to the fears of the Minority, the proposed CI would rather enhance the credibility of the Ghanaian voters' register.

She said it would engender confidence in the electoral process and make the registration of vot­ers a continuous one.

She said the continuous registration process will be inclusive as it will make it possible to capture all those who would otherwise have been excluded in a Limit­ed Registration Process.

According to her, the use of the Ghana Card as the sole means of identifica­tion will prevent foreigners and minors from getting onto our voters register.

But Parliament rejected the EC's bid.

The Committee advised that Parliament holds a meeting with the EC and NIA in other to advance on the new CI and for the two institutions to give assurance to the house with the concerns addressed during the briefing.

Deputy Majority Leader, Alex Afenyo-Markin explained that this matter was not a partisan one, but it was one that all of us had an interest in.

And, so, I will want to dispel any notion out there that whereas the NDC was against the EC, the NPP was for the EC, he said.

The EC in its draft Constitutional Instrument (CI), currently before Parliament's Subsidiary Legislation Committee, has planned to use the Ghana Card as the sole registration document; a decision the Minority and some civil society organizations said could disenfranchise a section of Ghanaian voters.

The EC also proposed to undertake registration of eligible persons at its district offices only, instead of electoral areas and polling stations as used to be the case in limited and mass registration exercises.

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