New CI will improve verification system for voters – Bossman Asare
The Electoral Commission (EC) has stated that the new Constitutional Instrument (C.I) will improve on the system for the verification ofvoters.
It explained that the nation had since the inception of the 1992 Constitution been used to old processes but it was time to change and adapt to modern trends for voting.
“The old processes of verification of voters is unique to Ghana and the Commission thinks it was began in 1992 and she has come thus far and made progress but there is the need to make further progress with a new system,” the Commission noted.
Dr Bossman Asare, the Deputy Chairman of EC in charge of Corporate Services, indicated that the Commission was committed, dedicated and determined to see to the passage of the CI that sought to make the Ghana Card the sole document for voter registration.
He reiterated that the CI would improve on the verification system for voters and since the inception of the 1992 Constitution the country used the old processes, but it was time to change.
“I do not know if we know of any country where two nationals must vouch for somebody before registration as a voter and it does not happen which has been unique to the country and we think that we began this in 1992 and we have comefar and we have made progress.
“What will make EC back down on making the Ghana Card the only viable card for voting, unless there is force majeure because so far there is no evidence to suggest we are not going to continue with what we are doing, but to say we are backing down, unless there is what the lawyers call, force majeure,” Dr Asare stated.
According to him, assuming the National Identification Authority (NIA) stopped its operations, then it meant the EC could not continue to rely on it or the government had decided NIA was no longer necessary.
Dr Asare said as long as the NIA was functioning, people should register and it must be encouraged to its mandate, calling for collaborative efforts to improve upon creation of awarenessand education of the populace.
He asked stakeholders to encourage the citizenry to register, because that was the best practice in every part of the world.
