Dr. Eric Bossman Asare
The Electoral Commission (EC) says it has noticed that minors and foreigners have taken advantage of the guarantor system to enroll on the voters’ register in the ongoing limited registration exercise.
A Deputy Chairperson of the EC, Dr. Bossman Asare, who expressed worry about the trend, called on political party officials and members of political parties to stop the practice of persuading people who are unqualified and ineligible from taking part in the registration exercise.
“As our key stakeholders, we expect the political parties to support us to ensure the voters register is credible,” he stated at a press conference yesterday.
Dr. Asare added, “We are stressing on this because we continue to hear reports from our officers on the ground and see pictures/videos from the districts of minors and other unqualified persons taking part in the registration exercise.”
“This must stop, and the parties, the media and CSOs must support the EC to ensure that the proposed CI is passed,” he intimated.
According to the EC Deputy Chair, this is the reason behind the proposed new CI which will require the use of the Ghana Card as the only means of identification for new applicants to register as voters.
He said the Ghana Card shows the age and citizenship of the bearer of the card, making it easier to identify those who are minors and those who are foreigners.
He asserted that the commission believes that the guarantor system has outlived its usefulness, and that the electoral management body is convinced that the time is right for a system that every registrant is identified on his/her own merit rather than another person vouching for the age and nationality of that person.
“We will like to use this opportunity to entreat parents to dissuade their wards who are less than 18 years old to be coerced by anyone to assume a new age and register as voters because they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law,” he said.
“In the same vein, we will continue to strengthen our processes to ensure that ineligible persons including minors and foreigners do not register. As a Commission, we are focused on ensuring and maintaining the credibility of the voters’ register,” he intimated.
Dr. Asare urged the government to as a matter of urgency provide the necessary support to the National Identification Authority (NIA) to register all qualified persons ahead of the registration exercise next year.
“As Ghanaians, we have the responsibility to protect our democracy. The Electoral Commission strongly believes that having a voter register with only qualified persons is very central to protecting the country’s democracy,” he said.
He assured that the EC would carry out the registration exercise in its district offices and selected electoral areas next year, adding, “We anticipate that all qualified applicants will have their Ghana Cards to present as evidence of their ages and nationality.”
By Ernest Kofi Adu & Ebenezer K. Amponsah