[ 2015-01-25 ]

EC charges Committee to examine the ‘No Verification, No Vote’ Policy'
The Chairman of the Electoral Commission(EC), Dr.
Kwadwo Afari-Djan has charged its 10-member
electoral reform committee to dispassionately
examine the ‘no verification, no vote’ policy
in its electoral regulation.

According to him, there is the need to review the
policy to ensure that the Ghanaian voter is not
short-changed in its implementation.

The ‘no verification, no vote’ principle is to
ensure that prospective voters are authenticated
before they vote.
Speaking at the inauguration of its reforms
committee the EC boss insisted the rule has to be
critically studied to ensure that the interest of
the voter is safeguarded.

“We urge the committee to critically and
dispassionately examine the principle of no
verification, no vote as it currently operates
under our electoral law.

In September 2014, the Institute of Economic
Affairs, (IEA) called on the Electoral Commission
to enforce the regulation and make efforts to
improve upon the equipment and technology in order
not to repeat the problem that characterized the
2012 general election with the use of verification
device.

“The IEA is calling on the Electoral Commission
to maintain and enforce the provision in the
electoral regulations which states that “no
verification, no vote.This means that there must
be authentication of finger prints before a person
is allowed to vote,” it said.

However the Progressive People’s Party(PPP)
kicked against the proposal.

The General Secretary of the party, Bernard Mornah
threatened to go to court court to challenge the
provisions of the Constitutional Instrument (C.I)
75 which makes biometric verification a
prerequisite for voting.

Source - Citifmonline

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