The Supreme Court has merged two separate cases challenging the decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new register of voters for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The consolidation of the two cases – one filed by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the other by one Mark Takyi-Banson – has forced the Supreme Court to reschedule the judgement in the case brought by the NDC indefinitely.
The NDC, in late March this year, sued the AG and attached the EC over the commission’s decision to compile a new voters’ register for the 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections.
The party wants the Supreme Court to declare that the EC, per the 1992 Constitution, can only compile a voters’ register once and subsequently review it over time and not compile a new one instead.
The NDC is contending that the EC “can only revise the existing register of voters, and lacks the power to prepare a fresh register of voters for the conduct of the December 2020 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.”
Among the declaration being sought by the NDC is that the decision by the EC to amend the regulations that guide the registration of voters “to exclude existing voter identification cards as proof of identification to enable a person to apply for registration as a voter is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.”
Abandoned Relief
The party later abandoned its claim that the EC is enjoined to compile the register of voters only once at the inception of the constitution and not on multiple occasions.
The party is now pushing for the inclusion of the existing voter ID cards as one of the primary documents for proof of citizenship for the upcoming voters’ registration exercise scheduled for June 30, 2020.
This was after a seven-member panel presided over by the Chief Justice, Justice Anin-Yeboah, and assisted by Justices Jones Dotse, Paul Baffoe-Bonnie, Sule Gbadegbe, Samuel Marful-Sau, Nene Amegatcher and Prof. Nii Ashie Kotei asked the NDC lawyer, Godwin Tamakloe, to elect which of the reliefs he wanted to pursue before the court as he could not be asking for alternative reliefs.
Opposition
The writ was opposed to by the Attorney General (AG) which described the NDC’s claims that the EC is enjoined to compile the register of voters only once at the inception of the Constitution, and not on multiple occasions, as “patently absurd, far-fetched, outrageous and grossly erroneous.”
The EC, through its lawyer, Justin A. Amenuvor, also countered the NDC’s claims, describing the position as an interpretation by the party to serve its ‘parochial interest’ and not a proper appreciation of the 1992 Constitution as a whole.
He said the NDC’s understanding and interpretation of Article 45(a) is an absurd, strained and far-fetched one.
The parties in the case were each given the opportunity to orally argue their cases before the panel and the court set June 23, 2020 to give its judgement in the matter.
New Case
However, Mark Takyi-Banson has filed a suit against the EC claiming that the EC is mandated by the 1992 Constitution to compile a register of voters only once and thereafter revise it periodically, a move similar to the request of the NDC which it has since abandoned.
He is also seeking the Supreme Court to order the EC to include the old voter ID cards as well as birth certificates as basis for identification.
Merger
Deputy AG Godfred Yeboah Dame subsequently filed an application to merge the two cases since they were essentially seeking the same reliefs.
The court granted the application and ordered lawyer for Takyi-Banson to file his statement of case by 12 p.m. on Monday, June 22.
The AG’s Department and the EC have up to the close of Tuesday June 23, 2020 to file their respective statements of case.
The case was adjourned to June 24 for hearing.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak