NIA has assured to address all challenges by end of the year - EC - www.asempanews.com

The Electoral Commission (EC) has said the National Identification Authority (NIA) has assured that all the challenges associated with the issuance of the GhanaCard will be addressed by the end of the year.

Concerns have been raised against the move by the EC to use the GhanaCard as the only form of identification for the continuous voter registration exercise.

He was speaking on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday September 24, while contributing to a discussion on the rejection of a move by the Electoral Commission (EC) to use the GhanaCard as the only form of identification in the continuous voter registration by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

Upon a careful study of the draft regulations, he said, the NDC has discovered that Regulation 1(3) states that “A person who applies for registration as a voter shall provide as evidence of identification the National Identity Card issued by National Identification Authority.”

The first, he stated, this regulation is clear on the face of it that the Ghana Card shall be the only proof of identification for purposes of voter registration

126, a person who qualifies to register as a voter may prove his or her identity by either presenting a valid Ghana passport, a national identity card (not national identity card issued by the National Identification Authority as proposed in this C.I.), or a voter registration identification form signed by two registered voters within the community.

is passed in its current form, it will not only be unconstitutional, it will radically disenfranchise all those prospective voters who for no fault of theirs are unable to obtain the national ID card issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA).