The Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana has announced they will use indelible ink in the upcoming 2024 elections.
The EC last year declared that indelible ink will no longer be required in upcoming elections.
The Commission said this was part of measures by the Commission to improve the electoral process and ensure a robust identification system.
“The issue of indelible ink, the question is when we were not doing biometric we were basically using your face, your card. We look at your face and we say this picture looks like you.
But, due to numerous objections to the proposal by Ghanaians and the various political parties, the EC has abandoned its decision to eliminate the use of indelible ink in this year’s elections.
Dr. Eric Asare Bossman, the Deputy EC Chairman in charge of Corporate Services, said the decision was necessary in building trust and consensus ahead of the December polls.
"After listening to the discussions, we have heard the concerns of the general public, we have heard the parliamentarians, we have heard the concerns of the NPP and the NDC and civil society members so we have concluded that if by using the ink people will have more trust in the process, why not…" he said.
Dr. Bossman clarified that the initial intent was to eliminate double verification in the voting process.
He noted, “Last year we noted that we thought when you look at the procedures in our elections the idea of using the indelible ink is like you are using two layers for verification.
“The Commission said if Mr Evans Mensah is coming to vote, then Mr Evans Mensah will be verified electronically for us to know that indeed Mr Mensah has been verified so when you want to go ahead to use the indelible ink then clearly you don’t have confidence in your biometric register so as a result of that we suggested that it will be better if we do away with the ink.”
Indelible Ink is a semi-permanent dye applied to voters' fingerprints to indicate who has exercised their franchise and prevents double voting.