PPP National Chairman, Nana Ofori Owusu, has backed the Electoral Commission's policy for Ghanaians to use Ghana Card for voting during elections.
According to Director of Electoral Services at the Electoral Commission, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, the Commission wants to make the Ghana Card the sole means for identification in registering new voters and for voting during the 2024 elections.
“As Electoral Commission, we cannot sit there. That’s why we are always adjusting our systems, first we were not using biometric, now we’re using biometric. We want to do anything to remove chaos about registration,” he made these comments on JoyNews’ Newsfile.
Touching on the EC's new adjustment, Nana Ofori Owusu noted that this initiative is long overdue.
He explained it is about time the long queues that characterize elections vanished and the Commission used technology to facilitate the voting process.
" . . with technology and with the identification system of National Identification Authority, we believe that it's something that is in the right part," he said on Peace FM's morning show "Kokrokoo".
However, he advised the EC to include other ID cards instead of making the Ghana Card the only identification card for voting in order not to disenfranchise Ghanaians who haven't received their Ghana Card yet.
"Now the problem is [here is the problem] the implementation of the national identification card for citizenship, there is a serious shortfall in terms of the people who have even registered and haven't got their cards yet. It's a major issue; then the National Identification Authority has also come out before saying that creating a database for EC was as easy as clicking a button.
"They said it was as easy as clicking a button but they must improve the time in which a person can get their ID cards. You can't, on one hand, legislate that this is the only ID you will take when the body, we as citizens, many of those who have registered haven't received their cards," he stated.
He added; "The accessibility to the card must be in a way that no Ghanaian can come out and say that I don't have my card, because the second you do that, it raises the issue of disenfranchisement . . . So, in light of this, I think, as developing policies, other form of IDs can be added to the National Identification Authority's ID in light of the fact that they haven't completed the process and there are shortfalls with the process."
