Dr. Serebour Quaicoe
THE DIRECTOR of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission (EC), Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, has stated that the commission will provide every qualified voter an identity card before the 2024 general election barring any unforeseen circumstances.
According to him, every qualified voter would get their identity cards so they could be fully registered for the elections within the next two years.
He said no one would be disenfranchised.
Dr. Quaicoe, who gave the assurance Saturday on Newsfile indicated, “Our decision is based on the assumption that by the time we close registration on the 7th of October 2024, any eligible voter would have registered, so that one is still valid. The NIA has given us all the assurances that now that they have rolled out 291 registration centres, we are also going to roll out 267 registration centres, the people will have their names on the Ghana Card.”
He emphasised that every challenge that has reared its ugly head in connection with the registration for the Ghana Cards will be remedied. Indicating further that it is possible for eligible voters to get their Ghana Cards before the end of their registration on October 7, 2024, Dr. Quaicoe intimated, “They will get the card, they will come to our offices to register. Let’s throw this challenge; we have more than two years, and let’s give ourselves the end of 2023. If genuinely there are people who are not getting the card, then we can now be arguing the argument you are putting across.”
The Electoral Commission has stood by its decision to use only the Ghana Card for the voter registration exercise, explaining that it remains the surest way to rid the register of minors and foreigners, which some time ago, was a feature.
Dr. Quaicoe noted that it would only help to phase out the guarantor system which non-eligible persons have often exploited to get onto the voter register.
“It is part of our planning that we want to eliminate non-Ghanaians helping us to choose our leaders, which cannot be done anywhere. If you go to other countries, they all use their citizens’ cards.”
Some commentators and political analysts have kicked against the move, saying it could disenfranchise eligible voters.
Recently, there have been concerns about the EC’s decision to use only the Ghana Card as the sole document for the voter registration exercise.
Notable among organisations and individuals who are protesting this is the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which has threatened to use legal means to prevent the EC from going ahead with its Ghana Card decision.
The EC has meanwhile debunked such assertions.