Ghana: EC’s justification for excluding voter ID card is a plain absurdity – Bright Simons
Published: 12/Juin/2020
Source: MyNewsGH / Ghanaweb.com
Vice President of Imani Africa and technologist Bright Simons has stated that the justification of the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) that the old register contains names of unqualified persons so must be discarded for a new one is a plain absurdity.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC) explained to the Supreme Court that, in essence, the current register contains names of noncitizens and therefore a new register will do away with the noncitizens given its(EC) inability to rid the register of these noncitizens.
But Mr Simons, who has been opposed to the EC’s decision to compile the new register, has rejected the argument as absurd.
“The justification they gave is simply that, in the past, voter identification cards could be acquired without one having to show material proof of citizenship, and consequently, because of this laxity, a “chain of provenance” problem has emerged. In simple terms, people who may not have been constitutionally entitled to a Voter ID card ended up getting one anyway. In subsequent registration exercises, such persons, it is speculated, proceeded to use the same cards to acquire new ones. Since no records exist today of who these individuals might be, the EC is urging the court to assume that they could be in such numbers as to render the entire register substantially unconstitutional.