Only Ghana Card will eliminate conflicts during voter registration – EC

The Electoral Commission is confident that using the Ghana Card as the sole identification for elections in the future will eliminate the confrontations observed during the recent voter transfer exercise.

This exercise experienced several incidents of confusion and violence, particularly in Weija, where the son of the Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, was injured.

Addressing the media after a meeting with Civil Society Organizations, the Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa, expressed hope that Parliament will recognise the need to pass a bill making the Ghana Card the sole requirement for registering to vote. The Commission engaged with over 50 civil society organisations to ensure peaceful elections in the upcoming general elections.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Chairperson of the Commission, Jean Mensa expressed satisfaction with the inputs made by the CSOs but also emphasised the need for Parliament to see the necessity of using the Ghana Card as the sole requirement in future elections to avoid the conflicts recorded in the just-ended vote transfer exercise.

”We have just concluded as I mentioned the transfer of votes exercise and it also went very well.  We did observe some unrest and conflicts in some of the centres. Thankfully no lives were lost, and we do hope that the conflicts around the guarantor system which lead to parties challenging their opponents because they come to the stations, they bus the people to the station and come using the guarantor system.”

”We hope that in the future parliament will be in agreement with the EC’s proposal to make the Ghana card the sole document identification card but that will be after 2024.”

Albert Kofi Arhin, National Coordinator of the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), urged the Electoral Commission to intensify the promotion of peace ahead of the elections, citing high tensions and desperation among the populace.

“If the EC has now opened its doors to everybody, especially with the CSOs, we are going to tell the story together with the EC and we would have to educate the people. I have a feeling that we need to be very careful this year because of the nature of the election that we are going to have.”

“Why because tensions are very high, the economic situation in the country sometimes is dicey, and people are desperate, so we need to educate the people about peace.”

Meanwhile, issues of the involvement of journalists in IPAC meetings were raised to ensure the credible dissemination of information held between the parties involved.

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