Full Judgment on the NDC versus EC case

Two reliefs being sort by the NDC and were upheld by the court are:

2. A declaration that upon a true and proper. interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution, specifically article 51 read conjointly with article 42 of the Constitution, the power of the 2nd Defendant to compile and review the voters’ register must be exercised subject to respect for and the protect-kin of the right to vote;

3. 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;

Meaning: The ruling is clear, the old voter ID to be allowed and the court granted it . That is the voter must be present with the ID at the registration center…sankofaonline.com

The National Democratic Congress in May, 2020 sued the Electoral Commission at the Supreme Court over its decision to compile a new voters register ahead of the 2020 elections.

The opposition party stated their stance against the EC’s decision stating that the exercise was unnecessary and costly. The EC being adamant, indicated its resolve to proceed with its decision.

Following this, the NDC sought an order from the court to stop the EC from compiling a new voters register and an alternative order declaring as illegal the decision of the electoral body not to consider the old voter ID cards as a proof of citizenship for registering.

But the Apex court gave them a directive to make a choice on which of their two reliefs they wanted a decision on.

It is for this reason the NDC dropped the case which questions the power of the Electoral Commission to compile a new register.

The Supreme Court in a unanimous decision merged the two cases against the EC’s voters registration exercise.

A private citizen Mark Takyi-Banso was also seeking same relief as the NDC.

Two reliefs out of the 8 reliefs were granted to the NDC by the Apex court. These are the reliefs two and three.

Source: ghanaweb.com