General News of Thursday, 15 June 2023

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Issues of impersonation, double registration, multiple voting dealt with – Dr Serebour Quaicoe

Director of Electoral Services of the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe Director of Electoral Services of the EC, Dr Serebour Quaicoe

The Director of Electoral Services of the Electoral Commission, Dr Serebour Quaicoe, has said that the EC has largely dealt with the issues of impersonation, double voter registration and plural voting during elections.

This, he added, happened when the EC undertook a recent voter register auditing exercise.

Dr Serebour said this at a Roundtable Discussion on Thursday, June 15, 2023, at the University of Ghana, under the theme Electronic Technology and the Future of Election in Ghana, a report by 3news.com has said.

According to the director, the EC is largely satisfied that it has been able to address the issues of impersonation to a large extent, but there are still a few minor challenges to be addressed.

“We are satisfied that we have addressed impersonation to a large extent, we have addressed double registration and multiple voting to a large extent, but how do we address the registration of minors and the registration of foreigners?

“I believe the politicians will now help us because most often than not they are those who recruit those people and end up accusing the EC of having registered minors," he said.

Although the EC has chalked this milestone, Dr. Serebour Quaicoe believes that one way of preventing the issues of impersonation from re-occurring is to make the Ghana Card the proof of identity in elections.

“But the EC thinks that one way of addressing this is to use the Ghana Card and there have been lots of arguments that we are still battling it out.

“We are still insisting that let us use the Ghana Card so that we can address the issue of minors because their dates of birth will be on the card and their citizenship will also be on the card. That will also reduce drastically the registration of minors and foreigners,” he added.

It can be recalled that the Electoral Commission, in its 2023 Constitutional Instrument (CI) to parliament, is seeking to make the Ghana Card the only document for voter registration in Ghana.

The EC believes the use of only the Ghana Card will guarantee the credibility of the register, and elections, and prevent the enrolment of minors, as well as prevent foreigners from voting.

However, the Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulations 2023 Constitutional Instrument (CI) presented by the EC was rejected by parliament on Friday, March 31, 2023.

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