The Electoral Commission (EC) has revealed that disturbances at registration centres during the ongoing limited voter registration exercise are mainly due to illegal registrations.
The EC said this justifies its call for using the Ghana Card as the sole document for registration and abolishing the guarantor system.
At a press conference, Deputy Electoral Commissioner Dr Bossman Asare urged party agents to use the challenge process rather than attempt to stop registrants at the various centres physically.
“We have also noticed that some of the disturbances occurring at some of our registration centres are due to the fact that some people are doubting the ages of some of the applicants. This is the reason why the commission has been advocating for the usage of the Ghana Card, which has the date of birth and the nationality of the bearers of the card and the abolishment of the guarantor system.
“We are hopeful that in the next registration exercise, applicants will use the Ghana card as the means of identification,” he stated.
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Over the last few years, the EC has advocated cancelling the guarantor system from the voter registration process.
The EC argues that the guarantor system is fraught with many challenges and could no longer provide a secure voter registration system for the country.
As a result, the only documentation source for registration should be the Ghana Card.
Madam Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the EC, told parliament on February 28, 2023, that the guarantor system will be eliminated per a proposed Constitutional Instrument(CI).
“The use of the Ghana Card as the sole means of identification will prevent foreigners and minors from getting onto our voters register,” Mrs Mensa justified.
However, some political parties and individuals shot down the proposal.
The Minority, particularly, insisted it was a deliberate ploy to deprive millions of Ghanaians of the opportunity to have their names on the electoral roll.