EC boss justifies decision for new register

The Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensah, says the compilation of a new voters’ register will prevent the manipulation of the 2020 polls.

The new register, she believes, would ensure a credible general election on December 7.

She said the EC’s decision was in the interest of all political parties and that it was committed to delivering incident-free and peaceful elections.

“A bloat in our register could have dire consequences for any election and as a people, we should go to an election with a mindset that it has to be credible.

“We should leave no room for manipulation and I believe that that is the essence of a biometric register. It is our desire that we leave no room for manipulation at the polling stations because, under the current situation, any manipulation could have dire consequences for our election,” she said at a forum organised by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung.

The EC’s decision to compile a new register has sparked a lot of debate among the public. The opposition, NDC, which has hidden its contempt for the commission’s decision is before the Supreme Court.

The party is challenging the move to exclude the old voter cards from the upcoming election.

The NDC argued that this amendment will leave many eligible Ghanaians without a voters’ ID, therefore, disenfranchising them.

But the EC Chairperson told the gathering of members of the Trade Union Congress that an audit of the current system had established potential room for election manipulation, with dire consequences on the general election, saying that was something the commission wanted to avert with the new biometric voter register.

Mrs Mensa said although when she took office stakeholders, including the vendors, mounted pressure on her to allow the contract to run or risk a system breakdown, the EC did not allow it.

She said the commission through a thorough analysis and audit of the system and found that the refurbishment, which could not last for the next six years, was not the way to go.

The EC presented the Public Election (Amendment) Regulation, 2020 (C.I. 126) to Parliament to amend C.I. 91 to change the current identification requirements.

On June 9, Parliament subsequently voted to allow the EC to use the Ghana Card and Passports as the only forms of identification for persons registering to vote after relevant Constitutional Instrument had matured.

The EC submitted its legal justification for the amendment and described the old voter ID as “fruit from a poisoned tree” and a breach of Article 42 of the constitution, which defines who is qualified to register to vote.

The EC cited the court’s judgement in the Abu Ramadan case, where it stated that it is inconsistent Article 42 of the constitution to register a voter with the National Health Insurance Card.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has set June 23, for the final judgement of the case.