Scores stranded at EC office over ID cards

Some registered voters who have misplaced their identification cards were left frustrated on Wednesday May 11, as the Biometric Verification Devices (BVD) of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, through which the cards could be replaced, had broken down.

The scene at the EC headquarters in Accra was that of dejection and helplessness on the part of scores of Ghanaians who had thronged the office to have their missing cards replaced.

Some of the individuals who spoke with Class FM’s Paa Kwesi Parker-Wilson pointed out that they had been going to the EC’s office for more than a week with no positive response from officials.

Some of the affected people entreated the EC to decentralise the system so that they would not travel long journeys to the EC headquarters to have the missing ID cards replaced.

The Ayawaso West District Secretary of the EC, Kate Asare, explained that some equipment of the EC were not functional and had to be replaced about a week ago.

“We had a fault last week Wednesday and we asked them to go. We only resumed work this morning and the network is sometimes also slow and the whole process is delayed, which has resulted in crowding at the office,” she explained.

She, however, indicated that the replacement exercise was a continuous process and the Commission will resolve the situation.

The devices procured by Israeli IT firm Superlock Technologies will be employed in the November 7 presidential and parliamentary elections.

The devices are noted for malfunctions during hot temperatures. Complaints have also been made about the poor maintenance and handling of the equipment by the EC officials, which contribute to the breakdown of the BVD devices.

The batteries of the devices are supposed to be replaced at specific times for optimum performance, but the EC officials failed to power the devices with fresh batteries leading to malfunctions.