The Majority Leader, Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, has raised concerns about the Electoral Commission's (EC) proposal to make the Ghana Card the exclusive document for voter registration in the 2024 elections.
Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu highlighted ongoing challenges in the issuance of Ghana Cards by the National Identification Authority (NIA) as a reason for exercising caution in relying solely on the Ghana Card for voter registration.
In an interview in Parliament with JoyNews, Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu stressed that many eligible voters have not received the card, and others who have applied for it are yet to receive it.
The Minister for Parliamentary Affairs recalled the criticism the EC faced when they initially linked voter registration for the District Level Elections (DLE) to the Ghana Card, as it excluded eligible voters without the card.
He insisted that making the Ghana Card the sole requirement for voter registration could lead to similar issues.
“So many people don't have the Ghana card, and some of the people who have registered to get the card have not been given the card. To say that you were restricting it to the Ghana card was going to be problematic,” he stated.
He continued, “If they can assure that every eligible Ghanaian will be provided with the Ghana card, then you can base the registration on the Ghana card. But if you admit that not every eligible Ghanaian has been registered or can be registered, then it becomes difficult to tie the registration solely to the Ghana card.”
Meanwhile, the Commission has submitted a request to Parliament to withdraw a Constitutional Instrument (CI) it laid in Parliament last week. The CI aimed to create a new Guan constituency for the SALL areas that currently do not have representation in the 8th Parliament.
According to Hon. Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, the EC's request is due to their fear that the CI may not mature in time, causing a delay in the upcoming district-level election.
