The Electoral Commission (EC) has expressed that the guarantor system has become obsolete, necessitating a new system that focuses on registering individuals based on their own qualifications rather than relying on others to vouch for their age and nationality.

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This rationale underpins the proposed new Constitutional Instrument (CI), which mandates the utilization of the Ghana Card as the exclusive identification method for prospective voter registration.“Indeed the Ghana Card shows the age and citizenship of the bearer of the card, making it easier to identify those who are minors and those who are foreigners,” it said.

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During a recent press conference in Accra, the Electoral Commission (EC) emphasized the urgency of the government's support for the National Identification Authority in its efforts to register all eligible individuals before the upcoming voter registration exercise next year.Dr.

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Bossman Eric Asare, Deputy Commissioner in charge of Corporate Services, reaffirmed the EC's dedication to registering every qualified citizen as a voter for participation in the 2023 district level elections and the 2024 general election. He also noted that the ongoing limited registration exercise has been successful, and there is a possibility of surpassing the initial target of 700,000 registrants.

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“We may increase the numbers to 800,000 or 900,000 looking at how the registration exercise is going and the number of days left," Dr Asare said.Dr. Bossman Eric Asare reported that the Electoral Commission (EC) had successfully registered 673,276 individuals at the moment, and the registration process has been notably productive, with an average of 50,000 registrations occurring daily since the previous week.

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He provided a breakdown of the registered voters by age group, revealing that first-time voters make up a significant portion of the total registered voters at 86.1 percent. The distribution by age is as follows:18-20 years: 580,800 registrants, representing 86.3 percent.21-35 years: 74,010 registrants, representing 11 percent.36-45 years: 9,471 registrants, or 1.4 percent.46-55 years: 4,603 registrants, or 0.7 percent.

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56-65 years: 2,736 registrants, or 0.4 percent.66-75 years: 1,280 registrants, or 0.2 percent.76 years and above: 376 registrants, or 0.1 percent.Dr. Asare reaffirmed the EC's commitment to ensuring a comprehensive and inclusive voter registration process.Dr Bossman said: “The commission is desirous of registering everyone who is eligible; we reiterate that it is not our intention to disenfranchise anyone.

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"In line with that, he said the commission had increased the number of kits at its district offices to accommodate the large numbers at the registration centres, as a result “the registration centres are becoming empty, however, reports reaching us indicate that our officials are fully ready to register all eligible persons who avail themselves at the registration centres before our deadline of October 2, 2023".Dr.

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Bossman emphasized the importance of parents discouraging their children who are under 18 years old from attempting to register, as it could lead to legal consequences for them.He also discussed the challenges encountered during the registration process, noting that as of the 16th day of registration, the EC had documented 7,561 challenged cases across all registration centers. These cases accounted for 1.12 percent of all registered voters.

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"In nominal terms, the Greater Accra Region tops with 1,552 cases while the North East Region is bottom with 14 cases," he said.However, in real terms, Dr Bossman said that the Upper West Region leads with 444 cases, constituting 1.9 per cent of registered voters in the region.Other regions with more challenged cases are the Savannah and Volta with 1.8 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.

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