Mahama Ayariga Pushes For Use Of Ghana Card For Voting
The Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, has argued that the Ghana Card should replace the Voter ID card for voting in elections in Ghana.
On the back of plans by the Electoral Commission to adopt the Ghana Card as the only source document for continuous voter registration, Mr. Ayariga said using the Ghana Card to vote will be more prudent.
“The law doesn’t say we cannot change it [the card used to vote]. We can change it to say if you have a Ghana Card, the Electoral Commission should recognise that for the purposes of voting because the same information that you are going to give to get a Ghana Card is the same information that the Electoral Commission would be asking for.”
“As we speak, I personally don’t have a problem with saying if you have a Ghana card, just go to the polling station and show it to the EC and vote,” the MP said on The Big Issue.
He also said doing this would make life easier for Ghanaians.
“Why should I struggle to get a Ghana Card and after that go and struggle to get a voter ID Card?”
Mr Ayariga further suggested that the EC should work with the National Identification Authority to make sure everyone gets the Ghana Card.
“They know how to carry out a registration exercise within a short period. The National Identification Authority should liaise with them,” he explained.
But without any serious collaboration between the EC and the National Identification Authority, Mr. Ayariga said the use of the Ghana Card as the only identification for voting would be problematic.
“They cannot insist that I must get a Ghana Card before I come and get a voter identity card. I don’t think that this is constitutionally right.”
Credit: Citi News
