JUNE 26

Digital JUNE 26, 2020.qxp_Layout 1 6/25/20 8:38 PM Page 3
DAILY HERITAGE FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2020
Go ahead with
your plans
BY MUNTALLA INUSAH
muntalla.inusah@dailyheritage.com.gh
S/Court tells EC, rejects use of old ID
cards for voters’ registration
THE SUPREME Court
has disallowed the use of
the old voter’s ID card as
a requirement for the upcoming
voters’ registration
exercise.
In a ruling on Thursday (yesterday)
morning, the seven-member Supreme
Court panel granted the third relief of
the suit, which agrees that a person’s
accrued right to vote cannot be divested
in an arbitrary and capricious manner.
Therefore, the prevailing C.I 126 prevents
the use of the existing voter’s card
as proof of identity in the compilation
of the new register.
The parties involved in the suit were
sharply divided over the Court’s decision.
The Court, upon dismissing some of the
reliefs sought by the NDC and Mark Takyi-
Banson, directed the EC to go ahead with
the voter registration exercise as scheduled.
The Court also said the registration should
be conducted in line with the Public Elections
(Registration of Voters) Regulations
2012 (C.I. 91) as amended into the newlypassed
Public Elections (Registration of Voters)
Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 126).
This left the parties involved divided over
whether the Court upheld the use of the existing
voter ID card as proof of identity for
the purposes of registration or not.
NDC reaction
Meanwhile, the NDC General Secretary,
Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has told the media
the outcome is a vindication of their position.
“So we will get back to the office and we
will address a full-blown press conference on
the consequential matters arising. We feel vindicated
because the court itself, in an earlier
ruling, has clearly stated that the possession
of an existing voter’s ID means that the
holder is a citizen of Ghana
who is qualified to be registered
and to exercise his or her
powers and so the court couldn’t
go back on its own earlier
ruling,” he said.
The opposition NDC argued
that a new voter’s register
would deprive many Ghanaians
the right to vote in the
polls if the existing voter’s ID
card is rejected, a claim the EC
disagrees with.
The party has argued in its
suit that the EC lacks the
power to go ahead with its
plans because it can “compile a
register of voters only once,
and thereafter revise it periodically,
as may be determined by
law”.
Relief one (Withdrawn)
“A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of Article 45(a) of the 1992
Constitution, 2nd Defendant
has the constitutional power
to, and can, compile a register
of voters only once, and thereafter
revise it periodically, as
may be determined by law. Accordingly,
2nd Defendant can
only revise the existing register
of voters, and lacks the power
to prepare a fresh register of
voters, for the conduct of the
December 2020 Presidential
and Parliamentary Elections.
Relief two (Granted)
A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of the provisions of the Constitution,
specifically article 51,
which reads conjointly with article
42, the power of the 2nd
Defendant to compile and review
the voters’ register must
be exercised subject to respect
for and the protection of the
right to vote.
•Asiedu Nketiah, NDC General Secretary
Relief three (Granted)
A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of the provisions of the Constitution,
particularly article 42,
upon the registration of and
issuance of a voter identification
card to a person, that person
has an accrued right to
vote which cannot be divested
in an arbitrary and capricious
manner.
Relief four (Dismissed)
A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of the provisions of the Constitution,
particularly Article 42
of the Constitution, all existing
voter identification cards duly
issued by the 2nd Defendant
to registered voters are valid
for purposes of identifying
such persons in the exercise of
their right to vote;
Relief five (Dismissed)
A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of the Constitution, specifically
Article 42, the 2nd Defendant’s
purported
amendment of Regulation 1
sub-regulation 3 of the Public
Elections (Registration of Voters)
Regulations, 2016 (C.I 91)
through the Public Elections
(Registration of
Voters)(Amendment) Regulations,
2020 to exclude existing
voter identification cards as
proof of identification to enable
a person to apply for registration
as a voter is
unconstitutional, null and void
and of no effect whatsoever;
Relief six (Dismissed)
A declaration that the 2nd
Defendant, in purporting to
exercise its powers pursuant to
article 51 of the 1992 Constitution
to exclude the existing
voter identification cards from
the documents required as
proof of identification to enable
a person to register as a
voter without any justification
is arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable
and contrary to article
296 of the 1992 Constitution;
Relief seven (Dismissed)
A declaration that upon a
true and proper interpretation
of the Constitution, specifically
Article 42 of the 1992
Constitution, proof of identification
for registration as a
voter should not be limited by
the provisions of Public Elections
(Registration of Voters)
(Amendment) Regulations,
2020;
Relief seven (Dismissed)
An order directed at the
2nd Defendant to include all
existing voter identification
cards duly issued by the 2nd
Defendant as one of the documents
serving as proof of
identification for registration
as a voter for the purposes of
public elections;
Orders
By this decision, the Electoral
Commission (2nd Defendant
in suit No. J1/9/2020 and
1st Defendants in suit
No.J1/12/2020) is hereby directed
to commence the compilation
of the voter
registration exercise as scheduled.
By this decision and , by
virtue of Article 130(2) of the
constitution, any court in
which same or similar action is
pending or yet to be filed shall
apply the decision rendered by
the Supreme Court in these
consolidated suits.