Janet Asana Nabla
The People’s National Convention (PNC) has endorsed the Ghana Card as the sole requirement for the purpose of voter registration.
According to the party, it is hopeful that “there would be no inhibitions or any reason that prevents any citizen who is eligible to vote from securing a Ghana Card between now and October 2024, to have their names registered on the electoral roll.”
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday in Accra, the General Secretary of the party, Janet Asana Nabla, said in spite of unambiguous electoral laws enacted some years back, some people are intent on creating unnecessary tension.
The PNC, she said, therefore disagrees with sections of Ghanaians, particularly the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who have expressed views of an attempt by the Electoral Commission (EC) to disenfranchise many members of the party over the use of the Ghana Card as the sole document for such purpose.
According to the PNC, the Electoral Commission of Ghana used Ghana Card, passport and two guarantors in the absence of the other documents for the 2020 election.
She stated that the EC had not said it was conducting a new registration exercise, and the previous register remains valid, stressing that the upcoming registration is a continuous registration.
She said “the EC has placed a draft Constitutional Instrument (CI) titled ‘Public Regulations 2021’ which is expected to regulate the continuous voter registration. Per the CI, the EC is seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole identification medium for eligible voters who want to get onto the electoral roll.”
The General Secretary further stated the purpose of the use of the Ghana Card as mandated in the Legislative Instrument (LI) 2111, which among others states “A national identity card used for an individual shall be used for the following transactions where identification is required 1. Registration of voters and registration of SIM cards.”
“The EC has assessed and come to a conclusion that most potential new voters will have the Ghana Card, thereby eliminating the need for calling for either of the multiple used or multiple identities,” she added.
She stated that given the two-year period between now and 2024 elections, young people who are 16 years could acquire the Ghana Card and also register to vote when they turn 18 years.
That, she believed, would not disenfranchise any individual as the register would be closed in October 2024, with no ID required as criteria for voting but a person’s bio data.
She added, “It is against this backdrop that the People’s National Convention supported the use of the Ghana Card as the sole or breeder document for purposes of registering citizens onto our electoral roll.”
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah