APALOO vs. ELECTORAL COMMISSION

On 4 December 2000 this case was heard at the Supreme Court which delivered a unanimous judgment on the same day but reserved the reasons, to be given on 17 January 2001. The following is my reasons in support of the said unanimous decision. The plaintiff who claims to be a citizen of Ghana and a registered voter, issued a writ dated 29 November 2000 invoking the original jurisdiction of this court under article 2(1)(b) of the Constitution, 1992 for: “(1) A declaration that the decision and directives of the defendant, that only a photo identity card will be accepted by the defendant to enable voters to vote at the forthcoming presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled to take place on 7 December 2000 or in the alternative that prospective voters without a photo ID will be permitted to vote only with the unanimous affirmation of the said voters’ identity by the agents of all the candidates as contained in the Gazette Notice dated 27 November 2000 and the Electoral Commis...