Voter registration: Your basis to remove guarantor system not enough – Minority tells EC

The Minority in Parliament has said that the Electoral Commission (EC) has not provided enough grounds for the removal of the guarantor system in voter registration.

The Chair of the Electoral Commission (EC) Jean Mensa told Parliament on Tuesday, February 28 that the guarantor system for voter registration exercise will be completely eliminated by the use of the Ghana Card as the sole identification document for the registration.

She said the guarantor system was prone to abuse.

Briefing Parliament on the Constitutional Instrument (CI) that is seeking to make the Ghana Card the only document for voter registration, Madam Jean Mensa said “The use of only Ghana Card will ensure and guarantee the credibility of the register and elections, prevent enrolment of minors, prevent foreigners from voting, eliminate the guarantor system which is prone to abuse.”

“The Ghana Card will not be used for voting in 2024, it will be used to register,” she said.

But addressing a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, March 1, The Minority Leader Dr Cassiel Ato Forson said “The proposed C.I seeks to completely eliminate the use of the Guarantor System for the purpose of proving one’s eligibility to be captured onto the voters register. This proposition we reckon, is a deliberate plot to deprive millions of Ghanaians the opportunity to register and have their names on the electoral roll.

“For emphasis, the Electoral Commission was pushed to provide evidence to back the claim of so-called abuse of the guarantor system, the EC indicated that in the 2019 voter registration for instance, only 15,474 people, representing just 0.09% of the total of 17,029,981 registered voters, were challenged on the basis of the guarantor system.

“This statistic is a very insignificant and immaterial percentage to warrant a total abrogation of the guarantor system, particularly at a time many do not have the Ghana Card.”

He added “We say this because the National Identity Register Regulations 2012 (LI 2111), make room for the guarantor system when it comes to acquiring a Ghana Card.

“It is therefore unclear to us what mischief the EC is seeking to cure by relying solely on the Ghana Card as source document for the ,of voters, yet intends to completely outlaw the guarantor system which constituted about 40% of Ghana Card registrations.

“We hold the view that the time-tested guarantor system must be maintained in our voter registration process and this position is absolutely non-negotiable.

“Common sense should tell any objective mind that a source document for the Ghana Card must be a source document for the Voter ID Card and vice versa.”

By 3News.com