The opposition parties have written the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) requesting a searchable electronic preliminary list of electors (PLE), which they say will aid the ongoing Claims and Objections process.
The letter, to GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally, was sent by the Joint Opposition Political Parties—PNCR, WPA, GAP and NFA—as well as the AFC, which also wrote the commission separately on issues and concerns which the party deems critical to the process of transparency expected to mark the 2011 elections.
In the opposition letter, the parties have requested electronic and hardcopies of the PLE, saying it would “enable us to speedily identify those persons who need to make full use of the Claims and Objections process since the exercise to identify persons on the PLE could be quite time consuming.”
Meanwhile, at a news conference yesterday, AFC MP David Patterson said that GECOM provided the party with a 36,000-page PDF document, when it requested the PLE. He noted that it is near impossible to locate specific persons given the format. He observed that in 2006 parties had access to a search engine provided by GECOM to peruse the list.
Reading from a prepared statement, Patterson said the electronic version of the PLE should be in such a format as to render it useful to facilitate the quick check of names of persons contained therein. “In the preparation for 2006 elections, these files were provided in such a useable format, thus we expect that the same shall be done for the forthcoming elections,” he stated.
The AFC is also requesting that the electronic copy of the list of persons not included in the National Register of Registrants, due to the lack of source documents, should be made available. Additionally, the party has requested additional documentation from the Elections Commission which includes electronic and hard copies of the list of persons who have been registered but have not uplifted their ID cards and a hard copy of the latest version of GECOM Work Plan, which clearly delineates the target dates and items leading up to Election Day and the declaration of results.
According to Patterson, the party would like to work with GECOM in a structured schedule of engagements leading up to elections.
Further, Patterson said the party is seriously concerned over GECOM’s postponement of the earlier scheduled Claims and Objections period, which resulted in the earliest possible date for elections being rescheduled. He pointed out that the delay occurred in spite of the assurances provided at a meeting on March 1, 2011, the party had with GECOM officials, and where it was stated that no impediments existed, save and except the timely release of requested funds.
He said also that the party is not comfortable with the unilateral reduction of the now commenced Claims and Objections period from 42 days to 32 days as result of the delay.
Meanwhile, the AFC yesterday said it was concerned about GECOM’s actions leading up to general and regional elections, and particularly worried over “inconsistencies in information” the elections body is providing to some opposition parties.
Party leader Raphael Trotman told reporters that GECOM appears to be feeding opposition parties different information. “It is expected that we don’t speak to each other…. [So] we will never know the true picture of what is really happening,” Trotman said.
Public Relations Officer at GECOM Vishnu Persaud, when contacted on the party’s claim, said the Commission prefers to review the statements made by the AFC before reacting to them.
Trotman said the AFC is currently investigating whether the ruling party has access to a more useful format of the PLE because GECOM has provided various formats to parties in the opposition. He added that the party will release a full statement on the issue based on its findings.
