Members of Critical Thinkers International (CTI), an activist group, have called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to eliminate the use of biometric verification in political elections, saying it wastes money and makes the voting process unnecessarily long.
They said the use of biometric machines in the 2012 elections prolong the voting process from one to two days. “The time spent on the verification process, as well as the purchase of the machines brought a huge economic loss to the country,” CTI opined.
The EC currently uses biometric machines to verify the fingerprint of voters who have registered to vote in national elections before granting them eligibility. CTI members said Supreme Court Justices have already ruled against the use of biometric verification because they found the verification of fingerprints to be an egregious impediment on individuals’ rights to participate in elections.
The 1992 Constitution gives every Ghanaian above the age of 18 who is “of sound mind the right to vote.” CTI members said under the Constitution, biometric verification has no place in the election process.
The group indicated that EC is already in the process of allowing voters who cannot verify their registration via fingerprints to instead provide facial pictures to the Commission and this change in policy, according to CTI, has made biometric verification redundant.
“The biometric machines have become both unnecessary and a disadvantage, and in order to avoid discrepancies in future elections, it should be dropped,” they suggested.
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