Voters IDs not a must

The Electoral Commission(EC) has said that constituitionally, anyone whose name appears in the voters resgistar can vote in the elections. The Voters identification card, it explains is not a legal instrument for voting but an administrative measure to facilitate the election.

Mr. David Adeenze Kangah, Deputy chairman of the EC, said these in an interview with the Times yesterday.He was reacting to a statement by Dan Botwe, General Secretary of the NPP, requesting the EC to clear the air about the confusion regarding the use of photo identity cards in the forth coming elections.

Mr. Kangah said that if it was the wish of all political parties the ID cards should become mandatory under the law, the commission was prepared to take initiative for the law to be reviewed. He said that the issue had been raised with the political parties at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee(IPAC) but until now, a consensushad not been reached on this issue. 'It is, therefore, surprising for the NPP to give an impression that the EC does not want to discuss the proposal,' he said.

Mr. Kangah said the ID card was instituted as an administrative measure following complaints of impersonation after the 1992 elections. The EC, in consultation with political parties at the IPAC, instituted the cards as an administrative measure to facilitate the identification of voters.