ID card replacement to be tightened up
Cards to be free of charge
The Electoral Office will be conducting more rigorous checks on people requesting replacements of lost ID cards.
To prove an applicant's identity, the office will request an official document such as a passport or driving licence. If a doubt arises over a person's identity, research will be carried out in the Electoral Commission's archives to compare signatures.
The Chief Electoral Commissioner said the new procedures will be implemented after the case came to light of a woman who managed to obtain an ID card using someone else's identity.
In that case, normal procedures were followed, however, since the applicant changed her appearance so drastically to match that of the person whose identity she had stolen, suspicion was not aroused.
The Chief Electoral Commissioner apologised in advance for delays in the replacement ID cards that it said were bound to happen due to these new procedures.
According to the Infrastructure Ministry, the replacement of ID cards with the new e-ID cards, starting at the end of the year, will be free of charge.