MPs bicker over move to make Ghana Card sole ID for biometric voter registration

Published: 16/Mar/2023
Source: Biometric Update

By Ayang Macdonald

A proposal for the amendment of Ghana’s electoral law to make the Ghana Card the only ID document to confirm one’s identity at the time of enlisting on the voter roll has been a source of discord among parliamentarians in the West African country.

Last month, the Chairperson of Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) Jean Mensa defended the agency’s proposal on this issue in parliament, saying the idea is to do away with the old guarantor voter registration system which gave room for different forms of fraud during general elections in the past.

Ghana has presidential and parliamentary elections on 7 December 2024 and the EC’s proposal on the Ghana Card is part of its readiness for a biometric voter registration exercise coming up in the months ahead.

According to Africa Report, the proposal has not only triggered disagreements and concern among Ghanaian members of parliament, but also among civil society groups who feel the move will disenfranchise a huge number of potential voters.

Read further: https://www.biometricupdate.com/202303/mps-bicker-over-move-to-make-ghana-card-sole-id-for-biometric-voter-registration

Themes: ID Documents and Passports, Voter Registration
Regions: Ghana
Year: 2023