Individuals who turn 18 outside the Electoral Commission’s (EC) registration periods can simply walk into their district offices to register to qualify to vote.
This according to the EC Chairperson, Madam Jean Mensa is a departure from the limited voters’ registration process which was conducted at limited periods usually within 2-3 weeks.
In that process, individuals who turned 18 after the registration period could not register after the set time for the limited registration.
However, under the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) anyone who turns 18 at any time in the year can simply walk into any of the EC district offices and register to vote.
“The main advantage of this is that potential voters can register anytime any day. Eligible persons will be at liberty to do it at their leisure because it will be an all-year-round activity” Mad. Jean Mensa continued.
She was speaking on the floor of Parliament on Tuesday, February 28 to answer questions on the new C.I. that seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole registration document for elections.
According to the EC chair, the Ghana Card will be a requirement that will be used to identify a citizen who is eligible to vote adding that it will be used in the registration process since it has all the adequate details of a voter.
“By using the Ghana Card as the main source of documentation for the continuous registration the Electoral Commission will be conforming to the legislative instrument passed by Parliament namely the National Identity Register Regulations 2011 legislative instrument 2111; It is in this vein that we urge you to support the decision of the EC to rely on the Ghana Card as the main source of identification for those who wish to register as voters,” she said.
Madam Jean Mensah further explained that “It is important to rehash that the use of the Ghana Card as the sole means of identification will ensure and guarantee the credibility and integrity of our register in our election. It will prevent the enrollment of minors on the register, it will prevent foreigners from being registered to vote and it will eliminate the Guarantor system which is prone to abuse and which promotes conflict and violence.”
Meanwhile, the Executive Secretary of the National Identification Authority (NIA), Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah says his outfit can print all outstanding Ghana Cards once the “financial constipation is cleared” by the Ministry of Finance.
According to him, about 3.5 million cards are being kept in a warehouse since August 2022 due to financial difficulties.
“That is, persons who have registered, whose records are with the NIA but whose cards have not yet been printed stands at 541,529. This figure, 541,529 represents the financial difficulties we have had lately. Beginning appropriate basically in July, August of last year that resulted in our inability to get access to some 3.5 million blank cards that we have ordered into the country which are currently in bonded warehouses brought into the country by our technical partners but we are unable to access them because of financial constraints.”
He has, however, assured that the National Identification Authority has the technical and operational competence to print these 541,000 529 cards in record time once this financial consultation is relieved.
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Source: ATLFMNEWS
