Dr. Osae Kwarpong, a Senior Fellow at the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), has stated that the ability of the Electoral Commission (EC) to use the Ghana Card for voter registration will depend on how quickly the National Identification Authority (NIA) issues Ghanaians with their cards to enable them to register onto the electoral roll. Kwarpong's statement was made by a member of the Ghana Center for Democratic Development.
His opinion comes after the Electoral Commission has been urging that the Ghana Card be used as the only form of identity card for the purpose of voter registration.
The organization in charge of the management of elections is of the opinion that the Ghana Card will solve the problem of enrolling minors and non-citizens on the electoral roll.
On Thursday, June 15, the Director of Electoral Services at the EC, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe, spoke at a forum that was held at the University of Ghana. He said, "We are satisfied that we have addressed impersonation to a large extent, we have addressed double registration and multiple voting to a large extent, but how do we address the registration of minors and the registration of foreigners?"
"I believe the politicians will now help us because they are the ones who recruit those people and end up accusing the EC of having registered minors the majority of the time," she said. "I believe the politicians will now help us because"
"However, the EC believes that one approach to resolving this issue is to make use of the Ghana Card, and there have been so many conflicting viewpoints on this matter that we are still debating it.
"We are still insisting that let us use the Ghana Card so that we can address the issue of minors because their dates of birth will be printed on the card and their citizenship will also be printed on the card." "We are still insisting that let us use the Ghana Card so that we can address the issue of minors." This will also result in a significant drop in the number of registrations submitted by children and foreigners.
"I understand where the EC is coming from in terms of its rationale and its determination to have voters register with 'integrity,'" Dr. Osae Kwarpong remarked while appearing on the Ghana Tonight Show on TV3 with Alfred Ocansey on June 15.
"Year after year, we have had these debates between the political parties and among the people of Ghana in an effort to get us to a position where we can trust the register. We have implemented a number of initiatives, the most recent of which was the year 2020.
He went on to say, "This insistent on the Ghana Card, I think one of the issues that have been discussed in the past is that it is also dependent on the ability of the NIA to ensure that Ghanaians can register and get their cards in time so that they can register to vote." He said this while referring to the fact that the Ghana Card is a requirement for voting in Ghana.