General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketiah has said the letter issued by the Electoral Commission (EC) confirming the replacement of duplicate Voter’s ID card is an admission of a criminal conduct.
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah believes the issuance of new voter’s Identity cards for the replacement of duplicate ones at the Commission’s headquarters without the knowledge of the various stakeholders is criminal hence the officials of the commission who sanctioned the issuance must be made to face the law.
The NDC’s General Secretary asserted that the act amounts to an illegal means of registering people who may not be eligible to partake in the electoral process.
“If you (the EC) print more cards and then distribute them to people who are otherwise non-eligible to register and they go to the Exhibition Centres claiming that they are holding cards but their names cannot be found in the register then the EC will be compelled to put their name in (the register). So it means you are registering people through the back door.
The fact that Electoral Commission sanctioned the printing of the cards on the blindside of the political parties is self admission of criminality. And the person who wrote that letter should be in court by now because it is like admitting that u are printing counterfeit currency,” he stated.
He argued that the Voter’s ID card is synonymous to a security document as a result, its issuance must be transparent devoid of any underhand dealing as that could comprise the credibility of the register and ultimately the general elections.
Mr. Asiedu Nketiah raised concerns about the duplication of voter ID numbers as he argued that the duplication undermines the integrity and credibility of the register and the upcoming elections as non- eligible persons can take advantage of the flaws of the electoral roll to partake in the electoral processes.
“The number (on the voter ID card) is unique so if another person bears the same number, we cannot now identify any voter uniquely so it opens the door for anybody to come and participate in our elections, then it produces a very difficult situation where you cannot rely on the credibility of the elections,” he said.
On September 21, 2020, the EC issued a statement debunking what it says was the erroneous impression created by a video circulating on social media. The EC stated that the cards seen in the video were issued at its headquarters for the replacement of duplicate ID cards and not the issuance of new voter’s ID cards as the video circulated sought to portray.
The NDC and its leader, John Dramani Mahama held a press conference on Thursday, September 24, 2020 where they registered their displeasure with what they termed as many irregularities with the newly compiled voters’ register. Addressing the press on the integrity of the provisional register, Mr. Mahama vowed not to accept the results of a “flawed” register.
