Ghanaians have been told by the Electoral Commission (EC) that the Ghana Card will not be used as a form of identification during the general elections in 2024.
The Ghana Card would not be used as a form of identification for the general elections in 2024, the Electoral Commission (EC) has told the country’s citizens. It stated that it would continue to dispense the voter identity cards needed for the elections.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the EC’s deputy chairman, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, dispelled a few myths that had been going around that the EC wanted to create a new voter list because it planned to use the Ghana Card on election day and that’s why it accepted the Ghana Card as the only form of identification for adding new voters to the national register.
The Ghana Card will not be used to cast votes. No, we’re not going to vote with it. The Ghana Card is just used to register new voters; after you register, we’ll give you a voter’s card. For our children to be able to walk to our district office or constituency and register for their voter’s ID in 2024 when they are 18 and there are 60 days to the elections, let’s encourage them to get their Ghana Cards as soon as they turn 16 years old.
Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, a proposed constitutional amendment, have drawn criticism, particularly a provision that would have made the Ghana Card the only acceptable form of identification for eligible voters seeking to be added to the national voter registry.
At a meeting of the EC and the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC), the various political parties decided to use the Ghana Card, according to Dr. Bossman Asare. We concluded that since the Ghana Card could be obtained at the age of 15, people who were about to reach 18 should be encouraged to obtain their cards and then visit their district office to register and be included in the voter list, he said.
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has objected to the C.I., claiming that it was never a participant in any dialogue or discussion that decided to make the Ghana Card the only acceptable form of identification for the impending limited voter registration drive.
Consequently, the party has given notice that it will use every legal tool at its disposal to contest the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to adopt the Ghana Card as the exclusive form of identity for voter registration.
Along with the NDC, Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, a former chair of the commission, has argued that the C.I. should be reexamined before Parliament gave its approval because any attempt by the EC to use the Ghana Card as the only document for voter registration would result in the disenfranchisement of millions of Ghanaians.
