Nana Konadu calls for e-voting

A former First Lady and Leader of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has underscored the need for the country to gravitate towards the establishment of a national electronic data infrastructure which would make the introduction of electronic voting in Ghana easy.

In line with that, she asserted that efforts must also be made to streamline the requirements for identifying a Ghanaian voter.

Currently, under CI72 Public Elections (Registration of Voters) Regulation 2012, a person who applies for registration as a voter shall provide as evidence of identification one of the following; Ghanaian passport, driving licence, National Identification card, National Health Insurance card (now cancelled), existing voter ID card or one voter registration identification guarantee forms as set out in Form One of the schedule that has been completed and signed by two registered voters.

“This is a flaw in our development programme. It is strange that we have five sources of identification; all these create problems,” she pointed out in a conversation with the Daily Graphic at her office in Accra at the weekend.

The conversation comes on the heels of calls by some political parties on the Electoral Commission (EC) to put together a new voters register to ensure free, fair, transparent and credible elections in the country.Political leadership

According to the Daily Graphic, she wondered why it was taking so long for the political leaders to institute measures that would make identification of qualified voters easy and asked, “Is it so because the Ghanaian is not complaining about money been thrown into the drain?”

“We the people are suffering because money is being wasted and it is time we put our resources where they would be beneficial to the masses,” she stated.

She, therefore, challenged political leaders to deliberate on how to make the National Identification Authority more effective.Voters Register

On whether Ghana should go for a new voters register or not for the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections, Nana Konadu declared, “the doubtful integrity of the voters register cannot be disputed; Indeed, you do not need a magician to tell you that there is a problem with it.”

She, however, maintained that the solution was ensuring that all voters had national identification cards.Credible register

However, in order to put to rest the vexed issue of the credibility of the voters register, the former First Lady maintained that the NDP felt the perception that the voters register was bloated should be revisited, especially after the 2012 election dispute.

“It is very important because it removes prejudices, negativity and the perception of over-bloated voter roll; it will also bring sanity and transparency into the voting system,” she stated.

According to Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Ghanaians need a new voters register so that we do not revisit the problems associated with the 2012 elections.

As part of efforts to enhance the country’s electoral fortunes for the 2016 election and beyond, she declared, “We support a new voters register for the 2016 election because the current data lacks credibility.”