The Progressive People’s Party (PPP) is urging the Electoral Commission(EC) to reconsider its decision to abolish the guarantor system in its continuous voter registration exercises.
The party says the move by the EC, if implemented, could disenfranchise millions of qualified electorate.
The EC announced that it will no longer use the guarantor system in the continuous voter registration exercises and as a result, the only source of document for the registration will be the Ghana Card.
According to Deputy Chairman of the Commission in charge of operations, Samuel Tettey, the guarantor system is fraught with challenges that will make the register less credible.
“We are not going to compile a new voters register. Rather, we would continuously register voters to update the current voters register to ensure that anyone who wants to register as a voter has the opportunity to do so”.
“This registration exercise, unlike the previous registration exercise, will be continuous. As such, anyone who has the card can just walk to our offices and register. It is not a periodic or limited registration exercise that could disenfranchise persons who do not have the Ghana Card at the time of the limited exercise. This is an all-year-round process. As such, a person who doesn’t have the Ghana Card today can acquire it tomorrow and simply walk into a district office where he or she intends to vote and register,” Mr Tettey said.
But, the PPP has kicked against the usage of the Ghana card as the only source document for the continuous voter registration.
“We need to be mindful that the system allowing for the effective, efficient and robust national database is not complete and non-existent as we speak,” the statement issued by the Director of Communications, Kofi Mantey, said.
“Furthermore, not every Ghanaian has successfully acquired a National Identification Card from the institution mandated to do so.”
It observed that, with many Ghanaians finding it difficult to get their Ghana Cards, making it the only form of identification for voter registration was against electoral fairness and justice.
“We therefore urge the EC to reconsider its decision of abolishing the guarantor system and ensure that it is included together with any other means of identification in the new CI so that every Ghanaian can be registered for the elections without any hindrance.”
In July, the EC placed before Parliament a draft C.I titled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, which is expected to regulate continuous voter registration.
Per the new C.I, the EC is seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who want to get onto the electoral roll.