The Electoral Commission (EC) has renewed its advocacy for the use of the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for the next voter registration.
According to the EC, the use of the Ghana Card would resolve disturbances and violence witnessed at the various registration centres in the ongoing limited voter registration.
The Commission said it has noticed the violence which has characterised the registration exercise, mainly due to challenges against the age and citizenship of applicants.
Updating the public on the ongoing exercise at the EC’s headquarters in Accra on Monday, May 13, the Deputy Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare, admonished political party agents to channel their grievances legally and appropriately.
He said agents should make use of the challenge process rather than attempt to physically confront applicants.
“We have also noticed that some of the disturbances occurring at some of our registration centres are due to the fact that some people are doubting the ages of some of the applicants.
“This is the reason why the commission has been advocating for the usage of the Ghana Card, which has the date of birth and the nationality of the bearers of the card and the abolishment of the guarantor system.”
“We are hopeful that in the next registration exercise, applicants will use the Ghana card as the means of identification,” said Dr. Bossman Asare.
Mr. Asare further added that the technical challenges experienced in the first three days of the exercise have been resolved.
As regards the offline mode of registration, Dr. Asare said the EC preferred the online to the offline because the online registration prevents instant double registration.
However, he explained that “with the offline registration because the data is transferred after the registration, you can have instances where registered voters go to the registration centres to register again.”
He also added that voters who may have lost their voter cards or relocated tend to register again which would be impossible to detect instantly.
“In these instances, our system will later identify their registration as double. Thus, making them ineligible to vote in the elections,” he noted.
The Commission therefore urged all persons who took part in the 2020 mass registration and 2023 limited voter registration exercises to desist from registering again in the ongoing registration.