‘Minority may not have read the CI’ – EC

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The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has dismissed reports that it intends to compile a new voters’ register for the 2024 election.

This follows allegations by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the electoral body wants to compile a new voters register using the Ghana Card as the sole requirement or identification card.

The Minority in Parliament has thus made its stance clear on the matter by kicking against the EC’s reported plan to use the Ghana Card for the compilation of the 2024 Voters Register.

The group holds the view that aside the huge amount of monies expended in compiling the 2020 register, such a move will also disenfranchise a lot of Ghanaians because many citizens are yet to receive their Ghana Cards.

Haruna Iddrisu addressing a press conference at Parliament House, in Accra described reports of the EC’s intention as a “matter of democratic concern.”

“If you used that instrument of a national ID card against a voter population of 17million then there is a critical technical departure from the requirement. We may not even have a voter register to rely on for the conduct of the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary election because the number of Ghanaians on the voter register far exceeds the number of Ghanaians on the ID cards data and yet the national ID cards have other persons including foreigners on it,” he added.

But Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe speaking in an interview on Peace FM’s morning show ‘Kokrokoo’ debunked the Minority’s assertion.

“Indeed the 2020 voters’ register came at a cost so I don’t think anyone at the Electoral Commission will say they want to discard the register. I can assure you that it is the best register ever compiled by the commission; so we have confidence in the register and we will never dispose of it,” he assured.

He said, “we decided that instead of always changing the register why don’t we go through continuous registrations and that is the new C.I in parliament”.

Per the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I), whoever turns 18 will have to go to the Commission’s district offices with their Ghana card to register, and then the name will be added to the existing register.

“So it’s not going to be touched,” he insisted.

Disenfranchise

Meanwhile, Dr Serebour has also shot down claims of the new C. I disenfranchised Ghanaians; insisting by 2024 people without the Ghana card would have received theirs.

“Maybe they (Minority caucus) have not read the law because it doesn’t state there’s going to be a new register,” he added.