Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission, has emphasized that the Commission’s proposed constitutional instrument (CI) aimed at designating the Ghana Card as the exclusive voter registration document is not intended to disenfranchise citizens.
Speaking to the media at the EC’s headquarters on Thursday, the EC boss asserted that the move away from the guarantor system is driven by a desire to enhance the integrity of the electoral process.
She explained that the Commission’s decision to adopt the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for voting is rooted in its commitment to conducting credible, transparent, fair, and peaceful elections.
“With regard to the CI that is before Parliament, we do not intend to put back the guarantor system because we do not believe that the guarantor system has worked for us. Thirty years ago when we took this journey, and we did not have a Ghana Card, it was only proper that we adopt a system that would ensure that people who didn’t have any documentation could register and thirty years on, we now have the Ghana Card, and we must rely on it, and it is the surest way to ensure the integrity of our register.”
Acknowledging the Commission’s intent to uphold the integrity of the electoral process, Mensa highlighted the role of the Ghana Card as a reliable means to verify citizenship and age.
“As a commission that is determined to conduct credible, transparent, fair and peaceful elections, we were keen to establish and uphold the integrity of the foundational document which is the voters’ register, hence our proposal to use the Ghana Card as the sole document for identification of a person’s citizenship and or age.”
“Our experience with the 2020 Registration Exercise showed that several minors and foreigners using the window of the guarantor system found their way onto our roll. To rid the register of minors and foreigners in 2020, the Electoral Commission established the District Registration Review Committees (DRRCS) which worked for several weeks to delete the names of minors and foreigners from the Register. It took substantial time and effort to expunge the names of illegal persons from our [electoral] roll. We challenged some 40,000 minors and foreigners and expunged some 15,000 persons from the Register.”
