The Ghanaian Times reports in its top story that the all eligible and registered voters will be required to use only photo identity cards to vote in this year?s presidential and parliamentary elections. The Times says all thumb-printed identity cards issued by the Electoral Commission will, consequently, be withdrawn and replaced by photo identity cards.

Mr Kwadwo Sarfo-Kantanka, Deputy Chairman of the Commission in charge of Finance and Administration is reported to have announced this in Accra. He said that the exercise and other programmes by the Commission towards the general elections would cost Ghana over 21 billion cedis.

The story says that the Electoral Commission has packaged the entire programme into two phases, the first one focusing on the revision of the voters? register, involving addition of newly registered names and the deletion of deceased voters? names from the register for update. The second phase, which the Commission said might start tentatively in April/May, would involve an outreach programme to the non-photo identity cards areas to withdraw them and issue the photo identity cards. According to Mr Saro-Kantanka, the provision of photo identity cards, though expensive, would help clear doubt and suspicion associated with voting procedures.