Use of Ghana Card for voters’ registration: PNC declares support
The People’s National Convention (PNC) has declared its support for the use of the Ghana Card by the Electoral Commission (EC) as the sole or breeder document for purposes of registering citizens onto the country’s electoral roll.
At a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, the PNC’s General Secretary, Janet Asana Nabla, said the EC’s decision was in line with the national policy that stipulated that all institutions should register people using the Ghana Card and that it was nothing new.
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She cited Regulation 7 of Legislative Instrument (LI) 2111, which supported the mandatory use of national identity card for transactions such as registration of voters and registration of SIM cards to buttress her point.
“This is a national policy and like all other systems which have now been changed to register individuals through the Ghana Card the EC is doing same. It is nothing new” she stated.
Fears of disenfranchisement
Ms Nabla said using only the Ghana Card as a means for voter registration would not disenfranchise any potential voter.
She stated further that the EC was not going to compile a new register as it was being claimed but rather it was a continuous voter registration, which would enable prospective voters to get their names onto the electoral roll.
“There is no fear then that a current voter who does not have a Ghana card will be taken off the voter list. In other words there is no fear of disenfranchisement if the person is already on the register,” she added.
The PNC General Secretary, therefore, urged all party members and the entire population to acquire the Ghana Card.
“To the other parties I urge you to tell your members to go out and register for the Ghana Card,” she added.
Ms Nabla also called on the government to assist the National Identification Authority (NIA) in any manner possible to enable the authority to deliver on its mandate of issuing the identification cards.
Background
The decision by the EC to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for the upcoming continuous registration of new voters onto the electoral roll has generated some debate in the electoral space of the country.