A voter, Mr Philip Kwaku Apaloo of Kaneshie in Accra, on Wednesday filed a writ at the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Electoral Commission that only photo ID cards would be used in next Thursday's presidential and parliamentary elections.
He said in his suit that this decision is inconsistent with Article 42 of the Constitution.
Mr Apaloo is also seeking a relief that not until the case was determined, the elections should not be conducted. Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Chairman of the EC, announced this at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee IPAC) meeting in Accra on Thursday.
Dr Afari-Gyan said the Supreme Court has indicated that it would start hearing the case on Monday, December 4.
Article 42 states: "Every citizen of 18 years of age or above and of sound mind has the right to vote and is entitled to be registered as a voter for the purposes of public elections and referenda."
The Electoral Commission (EC) said on Monday that only a voter's photo ID card would be accepted during the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.
However, it said, a prospective voter without a photo ID card will be required to go through a procedure prescribed by the EC to establish his/her identification before being allowed to vote. The issue of identification of voters for the elections has become thorny with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) threatening to go to court if voters with thumb-printed cards are not allowed to vote.
Although the EC has sent cameras throughout the country to change all thumb-printed cards into photo ID cards, some voters still do not have the new cards.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), however, says that people without photo ID cards should not be allowed to vote. The procedure to follow for those without a voter's ID card is spelled out in Chapter 3 of "Guide to Election Officials 2000", the EC's document on voting procedures.
It states as follows: a. Check the name of the person in the Name Reference List.
b. If the name is not on the list, the person must be politely told to go away from the polling station.
c. If the name is on the List and all the candidates/party agents affirm that they know the person, allow the person to go through the voting process straight away. Otherwise, ascertain the person's identity by proceeding as follows:
d. Pick out the original registration form of the person using his/her Voter ID
Number on the Name Reference List.
e. Ask the person to give you and the agents the following information, which should be on the registration form:
Father's name
Mother's name
Hometown
Age
f. If the information given by the person is correct in all particulars and the candidate/party agents are satisfied that the person's identity is not in doubt, then allow him/her to go through the voting process.
g. Compile a list of all persons who vote without ID cards Dr Afari-Gyan said the issue of the thumb-printed voter ID card for the elections could not be discussed at the IPAC meeting. He said the EC is seeking legal advice as to whether the Special Voting would be held on Monday and would make an announcement to that effect soon.
Dr Afari-Gyan announced that the exercise for the replacement of thumb-printed voter ID cards for photo ID cards which was to end on Thursday has been extended to Sunday. He said all voting materials have been sent to the regions in readiness of the elections.
