EC boss, Jean Mensa

Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, has revealed that the Ghana Card will not be a requirement in the casting of votes in the 2024 General Election.

However, she said that the Ghana Card will be the sole identity document to be used in the voter’s registration process in the acquisition of new Voters’ IDs if the new constitutional instrument is passed.

“Mr. Speaker, I wish to emphasise that the Ghana card will not be used to vote in the 2024 elections, the Ghana Card is only a requirement to register as a voter,” she said in Parliament.

The EC boss said this on Tuesday, February 28 2023 when she was invited to parliament to brief the House on the controversial new CI proposal.

“Once you present your Ghana card and successfully register as a voter, you will be issued with a voter’s identification card which bears the code of your region, your district, your electoral area and the name of your polling station, the Ghana card does not have these features and therefore it will not be used to vote in the 2024 general elections,” she indicated.

This, she explained, will prevent non-citizens and minors from clandestinely going through the registration process.

According to her, the guarantor system that was previously used has been abused making it extremely easy for non-citizens and minors to be guaranteed by guarantors.