With new GECOM Chairman, Justice (rtd) Claudette Singh having to make a decision soon on the controversial house-to-house (HtH) registration currently underway, the last such exercise took six months in 2008 raising questions about whether the current projected three-month time frame is viable.
That 2008 six-month period did not cater for the claims and objections that would have followed the house-to-house registration and perfecting of any errors such as duplicate fingerprints.
The time frame for the exercise is critical as Singh will likely be guided by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) edict on July 12 that articles 106 (6) and (7) of the constitution are in force as of June 18 with general elections expected in three months from that date.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently engaged in the process of House to House registration which Order 25 of 2019 declares should be completed within three months, half the time budgeted for in a proposed work plan submitted in 2018 and half the time it took to complete it in 2008. GECOM has not explained how it arrived at three months for the current exercise compared to the original projection of six months. It is unclear whether it has more staff deployed now than in 2008. The opposition PPP is against the current HtH exercise and has told its supporters to boycott it.
The current National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB) was created following the last HtH which lasted from January 7 to July 4, 2008.
According to GECOM’s 2008 Activity Report, the database was created based on a June 14, 2007 agreement between the commission and the Parliamentary Political Parties to create an indisputable NRRDB which could be used as the basis for the preparation of future Electoral Lists, and which would be commonly acceptable by all stakeholders as being unblemished.
The decision was also influenced by reports from International Observers of the 2006 General and Regional Elections who documented their calls for a House to House Registration exercise to be undertaken prior to the holding of Local Government Elections.
“They held the view that the preparation of a new Voters’ List from a newly established National Register of Registrants is a prerequisite for the holding of Local Government Elections,” GECOM’s report explained.
In keeping with the agreement a draft Work Plan for the Registration, including the various tasks with relevant durations, and resource requirements was prepared by the Secretariat for consideration by the Commission. This 2008 Work Plan was the subject of numerous reviews by the Commission and Secretariat before it was finalized and approved. The plan which was approved put the duration of the exercise from January 7 to July 4, 2008.
Halfway through, a review by the commission and senior members of its Secretariat determined that the exercise was proceeding at a satisfactory pace.
The review conducted on March 28, 2008 sought to identify and analyze problematic issues, to confront possible weaknesses within the Commission’s Operational and Administration systems, and develop solutions to deficiencies, while specifically focusing on matters which were emerging from the exercise which were in need of resolution.
The exercise concluded on July 4, 2008 with 430,746 persons registered. The particulars of these persons were encoded as part of the process of the development of the new National Register of Registrants (NRR) but the NRR was only finalized after the completion of checks for possible multiple registrations via the cross matching of the fingerprints of all registrants.
According to GECOM’s report on the process, approximately 33,000 persons in 2008 could not be registered because they were not in possession of their Birth Certificates. Of these, approximately 11,000 persons had applied for and were awaiting their Birth Certificates.
Additionally approximately 2,000 persons refused to apply for registration, while approximately 12,000 persons were reportedly out of their respective areas of residence and therefore could not be registered.
Commentators have argued that irrespective of any prior agreement among the parties and both sides of GECOM to conduct HtH, the activation of the motion of no confidence requires elections being held in three months and the preliminary voters list (PVL) could be extracted again from the NRR and refreshed via a period for claims and objections. The analysts have also pointed out that continuous registration has been in place and this has allowed all persons 14 and above to be registered. Therefore, youths reaching the age of majority of 18 would not have to re-register once their names are on the NRR. Their names would be automatically added to the PVL.
The APNU+AFC government and its constituents have argued adamantly that HtH is a prerequisite for credible elections. They have contended that there is bloating of the present NRR and that many young people would be left off of the list if there is no HtH. Critics have said that the APNU+AFC demand is a ploy to delay general election in the face of its weak showing at the November 12, 2018 local government elections and its shock defeat at the December 21, 2018 motion of no confidence.
