Alleged biometric voter ID card fraud, poor turnout for tests, complicate election in Ghana

Members of the Western Regional Branch of ‘Nana for President 2012 (NAFOP), a youth wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in Ghana, say some people in Sekondi-Takoradi, the country’s largest city, are forging the biometric voter identification cards of unsuspecting voters in the area, Modern Ghana reports.

According to the Ghanaian government website, biometric voter identification cards consist of all ten fingerprints, a headshot, as well as the usual biographical data.

Since its implementation, Ghana has seen little success with the new biometric voter system. According to a recent story in BiometricUpdate.com, a two-day test of the country’s biometric voter system was poorly attended, recording extremely low voter turnout.

With these fresh accusations of fraud, coupled with the recent poor turnout to test this new biometric system, it’s unlikely December’s elections in Ghana will go off without a hitch.

On December 7, over 14 million voters in Ghana are expected to cast their ballots at 23,000 polling stations across the country. According to The Africa Report, polls in Ghana suggest there is less than a 5% gap between the leading candidates, President John Mahama and the NPP’s Nana Akufo Addo.

Article Topics

biometric database  |  biometrics  |  elections  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  fraud  |  identification  |  voter registration  |  voting