The Electoral Commission’s (EC) Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services, Dr. Eric Bossman Asare has said the decision to use the Ghana card as the sole identification for registering prospective voters is to avert issues of citizenship status at polling stations.
He stated that the steps form part of the commission’s initiative to avoid the continuous confusion and bruhaha that ensues in successive elections over the eligibility voters.
Dr. Asare in an interview on the ‘Anopa Bofoↄ’ morning show, Wednesday, August 10, 2022, indicated that the Commission is committed to ensuring the canker of nationality doubt of who is a Ghanaian and a foreigner becomes a thing of the past.
He explained that “it will let that bruhaha whether one is a citizen of Ghana or not come to an end. Whether one is up to 18 years (eligible to vote) and vice versa becomes a thing of the past.
He admitted making the Ghana card to become a sole requirement for voters has the potential to allow only eligible individuals to exercise their franchise in elections.
“Because it means potentially, non-Ghanaian nationals get themselves involved during elections and those under 18 years so what it means is that these people would be prevented from taking part in the voting process,” Dr. Asare told the host Kwamina Sam Biney.
Dr. Eric Bossman Asare highlighted that the idea of using the Ghana Card will also give the opportunity to Ghanaians who were not captured in the EC’s voters registrar during the 2020 general elections to do so.
According to him, approximately 415-500 thousand Ghanaians turn 18 years every year therefore they need to capture them in the EC registrar since they missed out in 2022.
These, he said, the calls for a continuous rollout exercise that will enable every Ghanaian to acquire the Ghana Card, therefore urged everyone who is yet to register for the card to as a matter of agency patronize the exercise when it commenced fully.
The rollout exercise he noted would be held before, during, and after the 2024 elections and added that “We will not hold on, we will continue even when the election is over” and also “ensure it is done.”
Dr. Eric Bossman Asare was also adamant that despite the stiff greeting of the Electoral Commission’s decision by some Ghanaians, his outfit will succeed because they have the full backings of “the law.”
“So if you are yet to register for the Ghana card come to our offices and register,” he advised.
