Court battle over Ghana vote cards

The Supreme Court in Ghana is to rule today, Monday, on a critical issue in presidential elections in one of Africa's oldest and most politically sophisticated republics.

The elections, to be held on Thursday, will see Jerry Rawlings, the leader of the military coup two decades ago, step down in a democratic poll to be contested by his chosen successor, Vice President John Atta Mills, and six other candidates.

The Supreme Court decision concerns how voters prove their eligibility to vote. It goes to the heart of how democratic Ghana has become following decades of military rule and instability. The main opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) says recently introduced voter identity cards, which include the voter's photograph, should be the only proof of identity, arguing that this will exclude fraudulent voting. But President Rawlings' ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) says other proofs of identity should also be accepted.

The party says that many poor rural voters - whom it claims as its main constituency - do not have photo ID cards, and would be disenfranchised if these were made mandatory. It is a highly charged political issue. The opposition says the ruling party may be preparing fraud.

The ruling party says an urban-based political elite is plotting against it. Whichever way the Supreme Court decision goes, it will be controversial and there are very real fears here that this issue could unravel the democratic process.