He claims that the Ghana Card just serves to verify a person’s citizenship.
According to him, being in possession of a Ghana Card does not automatically qualify one as a citizen of Ghana.
On JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr. Bentil stated that the Constitution mandates that “you have the right to vote if for any reason you do not have the Ghana Card but you can verify that you are a Ghanaian.”
He made this claim after the EC’s Corporate Services Deputy Chairman advised potential voters to get a Ghana Card since it will be the only need for registering to vote in the 2024 elections.
According to Mr. Bentil, the Ghana Card cannot be used as the main document because the 1992 Constitution’s provisions provide that “whatever means you may use to establish that you are a Ghanaian is valid.”
According to Mr. Bentil, an administrative procedure is necessary to identify people and verify them to the EC official who is responsible for granting citizens the right to vote, but it does not revoke that person’s ability to vote.
“If you read the several C.Is, it reveals that the election officer should merely check that you are a Ghanaian and of sound mind, that you have done the necessary things, and that your name is on the register.”
“We need to find a means to demonstrate what is currently in place. Given that the NIA is an expert in the identification, they should have developed that system by now. We are where we are because of the NIA’s failure, so I believe they need to get their act together, he continued.
Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, the National Democratic Congress’s (NDC’s) director of elections, has pleaded with the Electoral Commission (EC) to permit the use of other national identity credentials for voter registration.
He said that the EC should permit holders of passports and birth certificates to register and cast ballots in the elections of 2024.
Mr. Ankrah asserted in a discussion on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday that if this strategy is employed, it will make the registration procedure for potential voters simpler.
“Since 1993, a provision has been created that, in addition to the principal document, in this case, the NIA card, there should be some provision for other papers. In the past, these additional documents included the driver’s license, Ghanaian passport, and the guarantor system,” he stated.
Content created and supplied by: Anilove Trendit (via Opera
News )