Parliament Agrees to EC Using Ghana Cards and Passports for New Register

The parliament of Ghana after a vote, has given greenlight to the Electoral Commission to compile a new voters’ register with Ghana Cards and Passports as a form of identification.

Out of the 198 MPs who were present in the Chamber, 106 from the Majority side voted in favour of the EC’s Constitutional Instrument (C.I. 126) which will allow for the new arrangement. 92 Minority members voted against it.

The decision to conduct a vote followed a request by the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu for a division, which the Speaker granted.

The minority believe the C.I. will disenfranchise many Ghanaians who do not have a passport or Ghana Card.

Haruna Iddrisu said the C.I. will spell doom for the country’s democracy and they will hold the Electoral Commission officials pushing for its approval responsible for any future occurrences.

The EC has consistently defended its decision to compile a new voters’ register for the December polls with the new requirements.

The Supreme Court last week ordered the EC to provide the legal basis why it has decided to refuse to accept the existing voters’ identification card as a form of identification in the upcoming mass voters registration exercise.

The EC in response said the old Constitutional Instrument (C.I. 12) which was used in compiling the existing voters’ register did not require any require any proof of qualification to register as a voter.

This the EC said meant that, anyone who registered under C.I. 12 cannot be said to have satisfied the constitutional test of proving qualification since no proof was required even though the criteria for qualification under Article 12 was set out therein.