Stop busing minors to registration centers to register – EC to political parties

The Electoral Commission (EC) claims that it has become increasingly concerned about the trend of minors and foreigners abusing the guarantor system throughout its restricted registration process.

The EC continues to see photographs and hear reports from its officials regarding children and other ineligible people registering, according to Dr. Bossman Asare, a deputy chairperson of the EC.

He stated that with the assistance of some political party members, the ineligible and eligible voters were able to abuse the guarantor system.

During a news conference on Thursday, he made this statement while providing an update on the current registration exercise.

“We have noticed that minors and foreigners have taken advantage of the guarantor system … this must stop,” Dr Asare stated.

According to Dr. Asare, the political parties should assist the EC in making sure that its registers are trustworthy as they are major stakeholders.

“We strongly believe that political parties will be one of the main beneficiaries,” he said, “if there are important people who will benefit from the voters register.”

As a result, he issued a harsh warning to political parties ordering them to cease immediately busing children to registration sites so they can participate in the exercise.

Parents must make sure their children under the age of 18 do not try to register, according to Dr. Asare.

“We would like to use this opportunity to dissuade parents who are less than 18 years old from being coerced by anyone to assume a new age and register as a voter because they may find themselves on the wrong side of the law,” he cautioned.

“As a result, the EC shares the strong belief that the guarantor system has outlived its usefulness, adding that the Commission “is convinced that the time is right for a system that every registrant is identified on his or her own merit rather than another person vouching for the age and nationality of that person.”

In light of this, he urged the government to provide the National Identification Authority (NIA) with urgent funding so that Ghana cards could be made available, as they would then serve as the only official document for registering new voters once the EC received permission from the parliament for its new Constitutional Instrument, C.I.

Dr. Asare additionally pleaded with the media and civil society organizations to work with the Commission to secure the laying and passage of the proposed constitutional instrument, which would make the Ghana Card the only form of identity accepted when applying for a voter’s card.

With only five days left in the registration period, the EC claims to have registered over 670,000 eligible voters. The Commission is sure it will reach its goal of 700,000 and much more.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com