Dear Editor,
I am 58 years old with a long Hindu name, Parshatan. At birth my father was working in the interior so his name is not stated on my birth certificate. I was converted to Christianity 30 years ago and adopted the Christian name, Peter. Twenty years ago I did Affidavit of Identity, Parshatan a/k Peter Persaud. These names are on all my documents, eg, house paper, NIS and tax transactions, driver’s licence and even two previous national ID cards.
Now GECOM is only using birth certificates for the ID card. Would all my life’s documents become null and void? GECOM should realize that Guyanese were not that sophisticated sixty years back, or even today.
Yours faithfully,
P. Persaud
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Mr Vishnu Persaud, PRO of the Guyana Elections Commission for any comment he might have wished to make and received the following response:
“Thank you for affording the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) the opportunity to respond to the letter written by P. Persaud. Accordingly, please be informed of the following:-
“During preparatory deliberations at the level of the GECOM pertaining to the conduct of the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise, it was recognized that some persons in the then existing database of registrants had been registered during previous registration exercises based on the provision of Affidavit of Identities, Baptismal Certificates and letters from Priests, Elders, Head Masters, Village Captains/Toshaos and Justices of the Peace. It was acknowledged that this situation might have created loopholes through which persons, who may not have been ineligible for registration, having gained entry to the then National Register of Registrants (NRR).
“In order to prevent any repetition of this nature, the Commission took the deliberate policy decision to accept only original birth certificates, valid passports, original naturalization certificates, and originals of other supporting documents like Marriage Certificates and Deed Polls, as adequate source documents for registration.
“The primary objective of this course of action was based on the conviction that only persons who met all of the eligibility criteria beyond doubt would have been registered under the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise, thereby guaranteeing the accuracy of the new NRR database and by extension the integrity of any voters’ list to be produced therefrom.
“GECOM recognized from the inception that there would have been many persons facing the same or similar jeopardies as that experienced by P. Persaud. Consequently, in the run up to and during the 2008 House-to-House Registration exercise as well as the just concluded Claims and Objections exercise, the Commission had advertised via all available media the need for affected persons to legally regularize their respective names by getting Deed Polls. The temporary GECOM staff who interfaced with members of the public during these two exercises had been instructed to provide this guidance to persons from within this category of potential registrants.
“With specific reference to P. Persaud, the letter did not indicate whether he/she is in possession of a valid passport, which could have been used as the basis for his/her registration.
“The Claims and Objections exercise having been concluded, P. Persaud would get another opportunity to become registered during the cycle of continuous registration which would follow the upcoming Local Government Elections, providing that he/she takes the necessary steps to regularize his/her “adopted”/assumed name.
“GECOM is cognizant that P. Persaud and others in the same or similar situation might find it inconvenient, even unnecessary, to regularize their names by acquiring Deed Polls. Notwithstanding this, one must never lose sight of the crucial need for GECOM to maintain the NRR in an accurate manner so that it could be used as the basis for the production of acceptable voters’ lists for the purpose of conducting elections in compliance with international best practices.”