New CI making Ghana Card sole requirement for voter registration rejected by Parliament

The Minority in Parliament has been able to make a case for why the Ghana Card should not be the sole requirement for Voter Registration by the Electoral Commission (EC).

The Ghana Card as the only source of identification for Voter Registration is contained in a New Constitutional Instrument (CI) presented to Parliament by the Commission.

In February when EC Chairperson Jean Mensa visited Parliament to defend the New CI she explained that the move has become necessary to make the Voter Register of Ghana most credible.

She argued that making the Ghana Card the only source of identification will rid the register of foreigners and people who are underage.

“The use of only Ghana Card will ensure and guarantee the credibility of the register and elections, prevent enrolment of minors, prevent foreigners from voting, eliminate the guarantor system which is prone to abuse,” Jean Mensa stressed.

She further explained that the EC has no intention of making the Ghana Card itself the Voter ID Card as had been speculated.

“The Ghana Card will not be used for voting in 2024, it will be used to register,” she said.

After weeks of consideration, Parliament on Friday, March 31, rejected the New CI presented by the Electoral Commission.

Both the Minority and Majority in Parliament unanimously agreed that at this point in time, the guarantor system should still be used during registration.

In the past, the Minority had argued that abolishing the guarantor system now will disenfranchise a lot of Ghanaians.