Retired Supreme Court Judge, Justice V.C.R.A.C Crabbe has called for a re-examination of the Public Elections Regulation, also known as CI 75.
The Constitutional Instrument was passed in 2012 to strengthen the country’s electoral system and give legal backing to Biometric Registration and Verification System – which was used in the 2012 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Justice Crabbe believes it is important to understand how far CI 75 complied with the Constitution with regards to voting.
Speaking on Tarzan’s Take on Joy News Channel on Multi TV, the retired Supreme Court Judge stated “the Constitution says that you have to be registered to vote which means if your name is on the voter’s register, you are entitled to vote. So where does biometric come in?”
He recalled that the extent of CI 75’s compliance with the Constitution (in the December 2012 polls) became an issue during the recently dismissed election petition.
One of the grounds on which the Petitioners were praying to Supreme Court to declare John Mahama’s Presidency illegitimate was based on claims of voting without biometric verification at various polling stations across the country.
“For me an important aspect, which nobody seems to be talking about is when the Provisional Voter’s Register comes out, what do we do about it?”, asked the learned former Judge.
Nana Ato Dadzie, a former Chief of Staff and a member of legal team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) – who were the Third Respondents in the election petition challenge – was also on the programme and backed Justice Crabbes’s call.
He added that the Electoral Commission must also look into and clarify other claims of the petitioners, such as instances of no signature of presiding officers on election declaration forms and ‘over voting’.
