Now I know it doesn’t sound all that exciting but this wasn’t just a matter of filling in some paperwork and signing my name on the dotted line … this was biometric registration! There was going to be technology involved – fingerprint scanning AND lamination, how could I say no? I couldn’t, so I went down to my nearest polling station which happened to be conveniently located five minutes from my house.
The rules for getting registered are
pretty standard; any current form of government issued ID could be used to
confirm your identity and information OR you could bring two newly registered
voters to vouch for your identity.( I still find this concept incredibly interesting
as it seems to impede the government’s efforts to discourage non-Ghanaians and
those who are not of voting age to participate in the general elections, but
that’s a tangent for another time :)). With the relevant information a government
official fills out details like name, age, DOB, address as well as both
parents’ names before directing you to the “biometric station”.
First, you're welcomed to the fingerprint
station where they employ the 4-4-2 system . So they scan the four fingers of
the left hand, four fingers of the right and then both thumbs. I’ve only ever
seen “bad guys” get their fingerprints taken on TV and it always looks as
though the scanners are extremely sensitive and barely require any pressure to
be applied on the screen – NOT THE CASE. I felt like a criminal AND a bit of an
incomp when I had to go through the process twice to obtain a full scan of my
fingerprints. It was pretty impressive to see a copy of my “unique” prints on
the computer screen though.
Next, was the photo, le sigh. It doesn’t
seem to matter how much preparation goes into attempting to looking good for a
piece of government issued ID, it just never turns out as well as its supposed
to. Just as I sat down to have my picture taken and asked the guy if I could
smile, he smugly informed me that he had already taken it. I look offended or
bored in the picture, which makes me wonder if I always appear that way :/
I'm also really fortunate that the polling station I registered at didn't experience any disruptions or violence (particularly from the youth) due to inter-party conflict. Hopefully the peace and tolerance observed during this first step in the electoral process is a sure sign of good things to come. Youth Alive's governance campaign geared at the youth has been gaining momentum mainly in the Upper West Region by educating and encouraging peaceful participation.
As the registration process comes to an end May 5th I'm thankful that things have gone smoothly thus far. I’m glad that I got to participate in a
new system that hasn’t even hit North America yet :p – let’s just hope having
my fingerprints on file with the government doesn’t come back to haunt me :)
PS I apologize for the lack of photos (i.e.
NONE) but I didn't think it would be apropos to take pics at the registration
station or to have "government issued ID" on display for the world :)
More
visuals next time!