Ghana card is not voter ID card substitute—Jean Mensa

The Ghana Card is only a requirement to register as a voter and not a substitute for the Voter identification card, Madam Jean Adukwei Mensa, the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), said on Tuesday.

“Once you present your Ghana Card and successfully register as a voter, you will be issued a Voter’s Identification Card, which bears the code of your region, district, electoral area, and polling station,” she said.

“Mr Speaker, I wish to emphasise that the Ghana Card will not be used to vote in 2024. The Ghana card does not have these features. It will not be used to vote in the 2024 General Elections,” she said.

Madam Mensa said this on the floor of Parliament when she briefed the House on the proposed Constitutional Instrument (CI) ahead of the 2024 polls.

In the new CI, the EC has expressed the intention to use the Ghana Card, also known as the ECOWAS Card, as the only form of identification or medium to qualify a citizen of Ghana eligible to vote to be registered or enrolled onto the voters register.

The EC Chair told the House that the exercise was the Commission’s mandate, where they were mindful of Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution, which enjoined them to register Ghanaians who were 18 years or above and of sound mind.

“We do not intend to disenfranchise persons who qualify to vote. It is in our interest to register them, however, we equally have the responsibility to ensure that only qualified Ghanaians are found in the voter register.”

“We owe this responsibility to Ghanaians, and we will work to uphold that,” she said.

GNA