The Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) yesterday announced the cancellation of its planned testing of the 2015 voters’ list, saying needed information to conduct the exercise was not provided.
On April 7th, the EAB announced plans to test the list, while noting that given the limited time available, it would need the support of the two main contesting groups—the PPP/C and the APNU+AFC coalition—as well as the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to do so quickly and proficiently.
“Unfortunately, the needed information was not provided in sufficient time to permit the announced test to be completed,” the EAB said in a statement issued yesterday, while noting that each passing day reduces the quality of an exercise as complex as a voters’ list test. General elections will be held on May 11th.
“The missed opportunity to independently test the voters list deprives the electorate and political parties of added assurance regarding the level of integrity within this critical element of the electoral process,” it added.
As a result, the EAB advised that institutions that suspect that there are discrepancies with the list should provide their evidence to GECOM so that the appropriate actions could be taken by the Commission and concerns could be addressed.
“It is essential for all political parties and GECOM to remain vigilant and observe all protocols for the integrity of the elections process,” it emphasised.
In the face of allegations that the list is padded, the EAB said GECOM would have conducted an exercise where fingerprints are electronically cross-checked to ensure that no set of prints is on the list more than once. “GECOM can usefully disclose to the public the results of the fingerprint matching exercise for 2015,” it said.
The EAB also reminded that the registration process included the participation of scrutineers from the political parties, whose role was to ensure that everyone who registered was verified. It added that further vigilance is required to ensure that no one person can vote twice or the information for dead or migrated people are not used to vote in their stead.
It added that it is the duty of polling officials to comply with the polling regulations and for party agents to ensure that they do so. “Adherence to polling day procedures is the best defence against any attempt to abuse the voters list,” it said, while noting that the onus is on political parties to recruit and train their agents early and to the highest standards, sufficient to cover 100% of the polling stations, so that the potential for impersonation, multiple voting and other electoral crimes are minimised.
The EAB pointed out that all parties, GECOM and stakeholders are aware of allegations that the list appears bloated with the names of persons who have either died or migrated. GECOM, it noted, has been working to improve its methodology to easily remove persons who have died from the list but the difficulty lies with those who are no longer resident in Guyana. As a result, it recommended that GECOM and the parties in the National Assembly should commit to solving this challenge after the elections.
