Ghana Card won’t be used for Election 2024 – Dep. EC
Contrary to claims, the Electoral Commission (E.C.) has said that it will not use the Ghana Card in the 2024 general elections.
It says it has no intentions of using the card and would continue to provide voter identification cards for use in elections.
He believes the card will help reduce the country’s underage voting problem.
“In all this, when we start the registration, the party agents will be present. The mischief we’re trying to kill is having people fronting for people who are not 18 years and are not Ghanaians,” he told Asaase Radio.
This decision by the E.C. received a lot of backlash from the opposition NDC and other civil society groups as many Ghanaians struggle to secure the card.
But in another interview, Dr. Bossman says the commission has no intentions of using the card for elections.
“We are not going to use the Ghana Card for voting. No, we are not going to use it for voting. The Ghana Card is only for registration as a new voter, and when you register, we will issue you with our voter’s card. So let’s encourage our children from 16 years to go for their Ghana Card so that by 2024 when that child is 18 before 60 days to the elections, he or she can walk to our district office or constituency and register for his or her voter’s I.D.,” he indicated.
According to him, the card will only be used as a means of identification for the new voter register.
The draft Constitutional Instrument (C.I.) entitled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, has sparked controversy, especially the section that sought to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who wanted to get onto the national register.
The decision to use the Ghana Card, Dr. Bossman Asare said, was agreed on by the various political parties at an E.C. meeting with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC).
“It was concluded that since the Ghana Card could be acquired at age 15, those who were going to turn 18 should be encouraged to get their cards and then go to their district office where they were located and register and be added onto the voter’s register,” he told Daily Graphic
However, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised issues with the C. I stated that it has never been party to any consultation or meeting in whatsoever form that agreed to make the Ghana Card the sole identification document for the upcoming limited voter registration exercise.
The party has, therefore, served notice that it will use all legitimate means to oppose the decision by the Electoral Commission (E.C.) to use the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for voter registration.