GUYANA | Court Action spurs GECOM CEO to seek review of LGE Voters list

GEORGETOWN, December 6, 2022 - Chief Elections Officer and Commissioner of Registration Vishnu Persaud, has advised the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM) Claudette Singh, to immediately move to correct the Register of Voters (RoV) for the Local Government Elections (LGE) prior to the March 13, 2023 election date.

This follows the court action filed by attorney-at-law Roysdale Forde SC, against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Attorney General Anil Nandlall SC, last Friday, on behalf of Opposition Chief Scrutineer,Ms. Carol Smith Joseph, filed two ‘Urgent Fixed Date Application’ in the High Court, challenging GECOM’s preparedness and readiness for the LGE.

Ms Smith Joseph maintains that the preliminary list is illegal on the grounds that it was extracted from the list for general and regional elections, and does not consider residency of electors as is required under the Local Authorities (Elections) Act.

In a letter to Singh, dated December 3, Persaud stated that the opposition A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) is a major parliamentary stakeholder in the conduct of elections in Guyana. Therefore, the concerns raised by the coalition, as a political entity, and the Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners cannot be ignored.

In his ‘Proposal for the Conduct of an Exercise to Correct the Registers for Voters for Local Government Elections,’ the CEO pointed out that the coalition is concerned that notwithstanding the provision of Section 5(6) of the Act, “the current RoVs were not extracted in compliance with the provisions outlined in the Act.

Persaud, while not acknowledging his responsibility as CEO to ensure compliance with the Act, every step of the process, and it was he who advised GECOM’s of the agency’s preparedness and readiness for the election stated: –

“ …it must be of greatest importance and urgency [GECOM] is not seen, whether justifiably or by perception, to be unmindful of the concerns of a major political stakeholder [ and the risk] to do so would attract the condemnation that the Commission did not comply with the standards of transparency and inclusivity.”

At the Commission level GECOM was repeatedly advised by Opposition-nominated commissioners of the violations of the Act. However, the CEO now advises the Chairperson, continuing along the path of excluding the legitimate concerns of the coalition “would have deleterious effects on the character and reputation of the Commission, as it would be on the outcome of the election.”

Persaud therefore proposed the Commission approve the “conduct of a 14-day exercise under Section 24A ‘Correction of Registers by Election Commission,’ for the said elections.”

The extension, the CEO said, would allow for:

i.  Correction of the Registers Exercise;

ii.  all correction to the registers subject to approval by the commission;

iii.  the RoVs be posted at two buildings within each division/sub-division in each local authority (which will take about seven days to complete);

iv.  the district office will be staffed to deal with the various transactions;

v. new electors’ fingerprints will be cross matched before entry into the relevant register is made.

A staff of GECOM, who requested anonymity to speak on the matter, said the 14-day timeline is unrealistic. The staffer told Village Voice the enter situation is “a mess because those in authority have been ignoring the advice of those who understand how the system works.”

Meanwhile, Persaud said if his proposal is accepted it would mean LGE will “be further delayed [but] the value to be derived from the unimpeded involvement of all concerned …is of greater importance.”

According to the CEO, his proposal is to ensure the upcoming LGE “to not only be free, fair and credible, but to be seen by all concerned as being free, fair and credible.”

The Opposition has repeatedly warned the electoral regime for LGE is different from the General and Regional Elections and GECOM was conflating the two, resulting in dire consequences and likely fall-out.

The suit  by the APNU+AFC Chief Scrutineer, seeks from the High Court, “A Declaration that the Guyana Elections Commission’s failure to comply with Sections 12, 13, 14, 20, 22 and 23 of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act Cap 28:03 and the said Act in general, renders the Register of Voters for Local Government Elections, null, void and of no legal effect.

“A Declaration that the failure of the Guyana Elections Commission to compile the Register of Voters in accordance with the Local Authorities (Elections) Act Cap 28:03 is a breach of and derogation from the Constitutional principles set out in Articles 12 and 71 of the Constitution as well as the Constitutional duty imposed on the Guyana Elections Commission by Article 162 of the Constitution;

“A Declaration that the constitutional duty and mandate of the Guyana Elections Commission as provided for in Article 162 of the Constitution to compile a Register of Voters imposes and or implies a duty to compile a reasonably accurate and credible Register of Voters;

“A Declaration that the Register of Voters extracted pursuant to Section 5 (6) of the Election Laws Amendment Act by the Guyana Elections Commission for use at Local Government Elections is not reasonably accurate or credible thereby making the same unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no legal effect.

The second ‘Urgent Fixed Date Application’ presented several exhibits to support the applicant’s contention GECOM has not been acting in compliance with the Local Authorities Act.

The APNU+AFC Chief Scrutineer is further asking the High Court to declare that the voters register for Local Government Elections is not reasonably accurate or credible thereby making the same unconstitutional, unlawful, null, void and of no legal effect.