\nTO THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION\u2019S PROPOSED
\nCONSTITUTIONAL INSTRUMENT (C.I) FOR VOTER
\nREGISTRATION
\n<\/strong>Good morning, our friends from the media.
\nThe NDC Minority in Parliament is pleased to welcome you to
\nthis very urgent press engagement.
\nWe are quite sure many of you followed and reported on events
\nin the Chamber last night, which showcased our opposition to an
\nattempt by the Jean Mensah-led Electoral Commission to
\nintroduce a Constitutional Instrument before Parliament. The said
\nC.I, the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Instrument,
\n2022<\/strong>, seeks to make the Ghana Card the sole document for the
\nregistration of voters onto Ghana\u2019s electoral roll.
\n2 2
\nMany of you may not be aware of the reasons for our opposition
\nto this proposed C.I. It is against this backdrop that we have
\nassembled you here in what we consider as a national emergency,
\nto state our reasons for our stated opposition to the proposed C.I.
\n1. The Ghana Card and Registration of Voters
\n<\/strong>Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees the right to vote by
\nstating that:
\n\u201cEvery citizen of Ghana of eighteen years or above and of sound
\nmind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a
\nvoter for the purposes of public elections and referenda.\u201d
\n<\/em><\/strong>Distinguished friends from the media, what the Electoral
\nCommission\u2019s proposed C.I seeks to do however is to restrict the
\nrealization of this right of Ghanaians, as Regulation 1 (3) of the
\nproposed C.I states:
\n\u201cA person who applies for registration as a voter shall provide
\nas evidence of identification the National Identification Card
\nissued by the National Identification Authority\u201d.<\/strong>
\n3 3
\nWhat Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution requires, is evidence of
\ncitizenship and not evidence or proof of identification. Any
\nevidence of citizenship should therefore qualify a person to be
\nregistered. That is why under the current C.I 91 as amended by
\nC.I 126, Ghanaian Passports and guarantor system are allowed as
\nevidence of citizenship.
\nClearly, the proposed C.I which makes the Ghana Card the sole
\nrequirement for voter registration serves as a restraint on citizen\u2019s
\nright to register and exercise their franchise in elections.
\nIt is important to remind the Electoral Commission headed by
\nMadam Jean Mensah that the Commission is enjoined by the
\nconstitution to advance the right to vote and not introduce any law
\nthat seeks to curtail same.
\nIndeed, under Article 45(e) of the Constitution, the Electoral
\nCommission is to: \u201cundertake programmes for the expansion of
\nthe registration of voters\u201d<\/em><\/strong>. Instead, the EC rather seeks to
\nundertake a programme for the restriction of the registration of
\nvoters.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/expressnewsghana.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/26819003.295.jpg\")
Ladies and gentlemen, the National Identification Authority PRESS BRIEFING ON THE MINORITY\u2019S OPPOSITION TO THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION\u2019S PROPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL INSTRUMENT (C.I) FOR VOTER REGISTRATION Good morning, our friends from the media. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2600],"class_list":["post-10483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-minority-position-on-ci"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n(NIA), which is responsible for the issuance of the Ghana Card
\nhas admitted that there is a backlog of millions of Ghanaians who
\nare yet to be issued the Ghana Card.
\nThe NIA has admitted that about 3.5 million Cards have been
\nlocked up in bonded warehouses due to its indebtedness of about
\nGHS 1.5 billion ($117m) to the private partner of the NIA, which
\nhas contracted loans from banks to undertake the printing of these
\ncards.
\nSpeaking on Newsfile on Joy FM last Saturday, 25th February,
\n2023, the Executive Director of the NIA, Prof. Kenneth
\nAgyemang Attafuah said:
\n\u201cSince about August of last year, we have experienced financial
\nconstraints in the system and it created a situation where even
\nthough we have 3.5 million stock of cards in a bonded
\nwarehouse, we are unable to access the cards because of
\nfinancial difficulty\u201d.<\/em><\/strong>
\n5 5
\nHe proceeded to say that: \u201ccurrently, about 2.5 million cards are
\nyet to be printed\u201d. <\/em><\/strong>Ladies and Gentlemen, these are not the words
\nof the Minority.
\nIt is also a fact, that the registration process for the Ghana Card
\nhas been characterized by several difficulties,including logistical
\nconstraints.
\nThe National Identification authority has further admitted that the
\nissuance of the Ghana Card is a continuing process and therefore
\ncannot be completed at any point in time. Therefore, making the
\nGhana Card the sole requirement for voter registration cannot be
\naccepted as it will deny millions of Ghanaians their right to
\nregister and vote.
\nLadies and gentlemen, the Chairperson of the Electoral
\nCommission herself, Mrs. Jean Mensa, in the Daily Graphic of
\nTuesday, September 13, 2022, front page, is reported to have
\nadmonished the National Identification Authority (NIA) to \u201cmake
\nGhana Card acquisition process faster\u201d,
\n6 6
\nThis is a clear admission that there are problems with the issuance
\nof the Ghana Card which the Electoral Commission wants to use
\nas the sole proof of citizenship.
\nAs we speak, millions of eligible Ghanaian voters do not have the
\nGhana Card and therefore stand the risk of being completely
\ndisenfranchised. This group of Ghanaians can be placed into three
\n(3) groups:
\n1. There are those who have registered for the Ghana Card but
\nhave not been issued with cards. The number of people in
\nthis category stands at a staggering Six hundred and FortyFive thousand, Six hundred and sixty-three (645, 663).
\n2. <\/strong>There are those who registered for the Ghana Card, but have
\nunfortunately misplaced their cards and proceeded to do
\nanother registration, which registrations are on hold. This
\ncategory of people accounts for thousands of Ghanaians as
\nwell.
\n7 7
\n3. Thirdly, there are a huge 2.5 million Ghanaians who have
\nnot been able to register for the Ghana Card at all.
\nAny attempt by the Electoral Commission to insist on the Ghana
\nCard as the sole identity document for the registration of voters
\nwill therefore deprive the vast majority of our people of their
\nconstitutional right to register and vote.
\n2. The Guarantor System
\n<\/strong>The proposed C.I seeks to completely eliminate the use of the
\nGuarantor System for the purpose of proving one\u2019s eligibility to
\nbe captured onto the voters register. This proposition we reckon,
\nis a deliberate plot to deprive millions of Ghanaians the
\nopportunity to register and have their names on the electoral roll.
\n8 8
\nFor emphasis, the Electoral Commission was pushed to provide
\nevidence to back the claim of so-called abuse of the guarantor
\nsystem, the EC indicated that in the 2019 voter registration for
\ninstance, only 15,474 people, representing just 0.09% of the total
\nof 17,029,981 <\/strong>registered voters, were challenged on the basis of
\nthe guarantor system.
\nThis statistic is a very insignificant and immaterial percentage to
\nwarrant a total abrogation of the guarantor system, particularly at
\na time many do not have the Ghana Card.
\nWe say this because the National Identity Register Regulations
\n2012 (LI 2111), make room for the guarantor system when it
\ncomes to acquiring a Ghana Card.
\nIt is therefore unclear to us what mischief the EC is seeking to
\ncure by relying solely on the Ghana Card as source document for
\nthe registration of voters, yet intends to completely outlaw the
\nguarantor system which constituted about 40% of Ghana Card
\nregistrations.
\n9 9
\nWe hold the view that the time-tested guarantor system must be
\nmaintained in our voter registration process and this position is
\nabsolutely non-negotiable.
\nCommon sense should tell any objective mind that a source
\ndocument for the Ghana Card must be a source document for the
\nVoter ID Card and vice versa.
\n3. EC District Offices As Registration Centres
\n<\/strong>Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, the proposed C.I provides
\nthat:
\n(1) The Commission shall designate the District Office and
\nany place it considers appropriate as a registration centre.
\n<\/em><\/strong>It is the view of the Minority that the above provisions of the
\nproposed C.I on registration centres will create a number of
\navoidable problems for the electorate.
\n10
\n10
\nFirst, these provisions if allowed to be implemented, will make
\nvoter registration extremely difficult for citizens whose residence
\nare miles away from the District Offices.
\nIn such situations, the cost of travel alone can be a disincentive to
\nregistration. In contrast, if the prevailing practice of using the
\npolling stations which are usually located within walking distance
\nof residences of voters is maintained, this problem will not arise
\nat all.
\nSecondly, registrations undertaken at the District Offices will
\nentail assigning polling stations to the registrants at the point of
\nregistration, but the registrant will not know the physical location
\nof his or her polling station at the point of registration.
\nGiven the high levels of illiteracy in the country, this will create
\nutter confusion on Election Day, as such, voters may find it
\ndifficult locating their voting centres.
\n11
\n11
\nA discretion exercised in practice by the Registration Officers,
\nwill undermine the transparency of the age-old practice of
\npublishing the Registration Centres in advance in the Gazette and
\ntherefore ensuring that they are known, certain and publicly
\nidentifiable.
\nSo-called emergency and temporary registration centres must
\nequally be known and published at least four weeks in advance.
\nThirdly, one of the major problems likely to emerge from this
\nprovision is the possibility of gerrymandering that can be
\nengineered by Registration Officials.
\n4. Registration Supervisors and Regional Directors of the
\nElectoral Commission
\n<\/strong>Under the proposed C.I, there will be a district registration
\nsupervisor and a registration centre supervisor.
\nBoth supervisors shall report directly to the Regional Director of
\nthe Electoral Commission, making the regional director the only
\nfocal point of the registration in the region.
\n12
\n12
\nOnce again, it is our view that for the purposes of accountability
\nand verifiability, copies of the reports sent to the Regional
\nDirector of the Electoral Commission by the supervisors in the
\ndistrict should also be sent to the respective district officers of the
\nElectoral Commission.
\nThe district officers are closer to the registration proceedings in
\ntheir various districts and under the C.I. are among the \u201cpersons
\nwho may give instructions or directives to a registration
\nsupervisor and other registration officials.\u201d
\n5. Voters Register
\n<\/strong>Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, the proposed C.I states as
\nfollows:
\n(1) Each electoral area shall have a Voters Register consisting
\nof a voters register of each polling station in the electoral area.
\n(2) Each Constituency shall have a Voters Register consisting
\nof voter\u2019s registers of the electoral areas within the constituency.<\/em><\/strong>
\n13
\n13
\nIt is important to note that the Biometric Verification Devices
\n(BVD\u2019s) that are used to identify voters at the various polling
\nstations do not \u201ctalk to each other\u201d to indicate who has voted at
\nwhich polling station.
\nTherefore, until such a time that the BVD\u2019s are configured to be
\ninteractive in this way, the two Registers being used at the Polling
\nStation on Election Day will open the door to two kinds of
\ninfractions, namely multiple voting and ballot stuffing.
\n6. Repeal of C.I 91 and C.I 126
\n<\/strong>Friends from the media, claims by the Electoral Commission that
\nthe proposed C.I is for only continuous registration is not only
\nmisleading but also mischievous.
\nRegulation 33 in the draft C.I revokes C.I 91 and C.I 126.
\nTherefore, by operation of law, once this proposed C.I is passed,
\nit will be the only law on voter registration in Ghana. The
\nElectoral Commission knows that it does not have separate laws
\nfor continuous registration and limited registration or mass
\nregistration.
\n14
\n14
\n7. Exclusion of the NDC from the C.I Process
\n<\/strong>Friends from the media, between November 2018 and August
\n2022, the Electoral Commission set up a Sub-Committee of the
\nInter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to discuss a draft C.I on
\nthe Registration of Voters.
\nThe Sub-Committee consisted of the Electoral Commission, One
\n(1) member each from the New Patriotic Party and the National
\nDemocratic Congress, and Three (3) members each from political
\nparties without representation in Parliament and civil society
\norganisations.
\nInitial meetings to which the NDC was invited did not materialise,
\nonly for the party to be informed in August 2022 that this
\nproposed C.I was ready for presentation to Parliament.
\nIn other words, the NDC had been completely excluded from the
\nprocess of preparing the C.I.
\n15
\n15
\n8. The Electoral Commission and National Security
\n<\/strong>As noted in Ghana\u2019s National Security Strategy, one of the main
\nrisks to Ghana\u2019s peace and security \u201cis mistrust in the electoral
\nprocess
\nThe suspicion of collusion between the ruling party and the
\nElectoral Commission to rig elections for the ruling party
\ncontinues to drive the situation towards dispute and potential
\nviolence\u201d.
\nThe above admonishing is coming from the National Security in
\nlight of the clear and present danger that the Electoral
\nCommission continues to pose to the peace and stability of Ghana
\nthrough actions such as this proposed Constitutional Instrument.
\n16
\n16
\nConclusion
\n<\/strong>1. Distinguished friends from the media, the Minority Caucus will
\nin the coming days collaborate with the National Democratic
\nCongress (NDC) to hold a major forum on this subject. This will
\nafford us an opportunity to further explain these issues for the
\nunderstanding of the Ghanaian populace.
\n2. Given the critical nature of the issue at stake, and the potential of
\nthis C.I to undermine our democracy and thereby disturb the
\npeace and security of our country
\nThe Minority Group will in the coming days be engaging a broad
\nspectrum of stakeholders, including our Development Partners,
\nFaith-based Organizations, Traditional Authorities and Civil
\nSociety Organizations to get them to appreciate the issues at stake
\nand the consequences this bodes for Ghana\u2019s democracy and
\nstability.
\nWe thank you for your attention. May God bless our homeland
\nGhana and protect our democracy from imminent destruction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"