Mahama Ayariga, MP, Bawku Central, says the Ghana Identity Card, otherwise called Ghana Card should replace the Voter ID card for voting in elections in Ghana.
According to him, using the Ghana Card to vote in the elections will be more prudent, a position that contradicts the position of his party, the National Democratic Congress, NDC.
Speaking on Accra-based FM the MP explained: “the law doesn’t say we cannot change it [the card used to vote]. We can change it to say if you have a Ghana Card, the Electoral Commission should recognise that for the purposes of voting because the same information that you are going to give to get a Ghana Card is the same information that the Electoral Commission would be asking for.
“As we speak, I personally don’t have a problem with saying if you have a Ghana card, just go to the polling station and show it to the EC and vote.”
He argued that there is no point for Ghanaians should struggle for the voter’s ID after struggling for the Ghana Card.
“Why should I struggle to get a Ghana Card and after that go and struggle to get a voter ID Card?” Ayariga quizzed.
He suggested that it will be more prudent for the Jean Mensa-led Electoral Commission, EC, to work with the National Identification Authority, NIA, to make sure everyone gets the Ghana Card.
“They know how to carry out a registration exercise within a short period. The National Identification Authority should liaise with them.
“They cannot insist that I must get a Ghana Card before I come and get a voter identity card. I don’t think that this is constitutionally right,” Mahama Ayariga noted.
The NDC’s position.
The opposition NDC has expressed strong opposition to the EC’s move to allow the Ghana Card to become the sole identification document for continuous voter registration.
In a strongly worded statement dated August 5, the party stated that it “wishes to use this opportunity to remind the Electoral Commission that under Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution, every Ghanaian of eighteen years and above and of sound mind is entitled to register as a voter for the purposes of elections. This right to register and exercise one’s franchise is an inalienable right that should not be denied to citizens who qualify to exercise same.
“We wish to assure Ghanaians that the NDC will not sit aloof for the NPP government to collude with Electoral Commission to rig the 2024 elections and inflict more pain and hardships on them. We are therefore urging our agitated supporters to remain calm as we take all legitimate and appropriate steps to ensure that they are not disenfranchised.”
In July, the EC placed before Parliament a draft C.I. titled: Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations, 2021, which is expected to regulate continuous voter registration.
Per the new C.I, the EC is seeking to make the Ghana Card the sole form of identification for eligible voters who want to get onto the electoral roll.
The party also supported calls by the EC to shelve the idea of using the Ghana Card as the sole identification document.