Last Friday, the Parliament rejected the Electoral Commission's (EC) proposal to use the Ghana card as the only form of identification required to register for the new voter list.
Before the commission could bring the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulation, 2023, for discussion, the House overwhelmingly recommended that it incorporate the guarantor system.
Lawmakers believed that using the Ghana Card as the only method of voter registration would have a detrimental effect on the electoral roll and prevent some otherwise eligible people from registering to vote until the issues relating to the issuing of the Ghana Card were resolved.
"The EC should proceed cautiously and wait until every eligible voter is given the chance to register and obtain the Ghana before the enactment of such a requirement," they said.
Report Acceptance
After the adoption of the Committee of the Whole report on the draught constitutional document by the legislature, the House made its choice.
The report, which was authored by the Speaker of the House and Chairman of the Committee of the Whole, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, stated that it was not yet appropriate for the EC to introduce and implement the Ghana card as the sole method of proving citizenship for purposes of voter registration.
First Deputy Speaker Joseph Osei-Owusu delivered the report to the House and made the motion for the adoption of the committee's findings.
The reports reflected the worries expressed by members of the Special Budget Committee and the Committee of the Whole to Chairman of the EC Jean Mensa, Executive Secretary of the NIA Prof. Ken Attafuah, and Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta at earlier sessions.
It was based on the idea that the EC could only submit the new CI to Parliament for approval and discussion if it accorded the MPs' concerns favorable treatment.
willing to back changes
According to the article, lawmakers were prepared to support any initiative that would allow every Ghanaian to receive a Ghana Card since it was the only way to ensure that everyone had access to the benefits that the Ghana Card offered.
Nevertheless, it said that any attempt to force the EC to use the Ghana Card as the exclusive method of determining a person's eligibility to vote in the 2024 elections will be rejected by legislators.
It, it said, rested on the assumption that Ghana had matured and could now boast of a reliable national identification card (the Ghana Card) to use for commercial transactions.
The statement continued, "Yet, even in the face of a number of identification alternatives provided in the past and even in the operation of the NIA, some citizens are unable to register for the national card due to the existence of major obstacles the authority is faced with."
Oath
According to the study, lawmakers agreed that the introduction of the Ghana Card, which addresses the issue of the proliferation of identifying cards and cords, was very commendable and backed by all parties and governments.
However, the legislators proposed that the EC require a person who applied for registration but was unable to present an identification card issued by the NIA as proof of identity because they had not been registered by the NIA or had been registered by the NIA but had not received a national identification card to produce a relative who could do so under oath in accordance with the Oath Act.
The statement read, "The EC shall require two persons registered with the NIA and issued with the national identification card to identify that person under oath in accordance with the provisions of the Oath Act when a person applies for registration as a voter but has no relative to provide evidence of identification on oath."
The MPs made it clear that they wanted the EC, NIA, and Finance Ministry to take note of the NIA's prior pledge to fully register all residents 15 years of age and older by July 2022.
"At that time, the EC had asked Parliament for permission to change the CI, but that promise could not be kept.
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