The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has decided to extend indefinitely the time within which around 18,000 persons can collect their national identification (ID) cards since a mere 805 have showed up during the 21 days previously announced.
Beginning on November 9th, GECOM published in the four daily newspapers and on the commission’s website the names of 18,512 persons who have not collected their cards, some from since 2008.
An Order signed by Chief Election Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield directs that all persons whose names are listed must personally appear at their closest registration office with a Guyana issued birth certificate or certificate of registration of a foreign birth or a valid Guyana passport as well as any other supporting documents which may be requested by the registration officer before whom they appear.
According to the order, by fulfilling this requirement on or before December 2nd, 2019 the listed individuals would have ensured that their name is included on the final list of electors for the next general and regional elections.
“Failure to satisfy this requirement will result in your name appearing in a special section of the Official List of Electors (OLE) on Elections Day. You must note however, that your registration record in the General Register of Registrants (NRR) shall not be cancelled,” it explained.
However, following the commission’s statutory meeting yesterday it was announced that these provisions are being reconsidered.
Government-nominated commissioner Vincent Alexander explained that while the commission remains of the collective view that there must be a mechanism to ensure that there is an alertness to the fact that these are persons who did not uplift their ID card they have begun to reconsider a supplementary list.
“There is a concern that a supplementary list could be a source of confusion…it could be an untidy operation so it is under review. We haven’t finalized a method,” Alexander explained.
He further noted that a decision has not been made on the use of the data garnered during the House-to-House (HtH) registration exercise as the foreign contractor, Gemalto, is still conducting a cross-matching exercise.
“We are still awaiting a report from the fingerprint cross-matching service provider to determine what if anything will be done with the HtH data. We have not also received any data in relation to the cross- matching exercise in relation to the claims and objections exercise. This has basically hamstrung us in relation to the production of lists and decisions in relation thereto,” Opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj explained.
Specifically Gemalto is cross-matching the data from the recently concluded claims and objections exercise with that of the House-to-House exercise and the National Register of Registrants. It is only after this exercise is completed that a Revised List of Electors will be published followed by an Official List of Electors.
While neither Commissioner could provide dates for the publication of these lists they are expected to be published before January 10 which has been designated as Nomination Day for the March 2nd general and regional elections.
Both Commissioners also indicated that GECOM currently has enough funds for the holding of the elections and is therefore unlikely to need an appropriation from the National Assembly.
Gunraj further noted that the commission has met with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to discuss the Terms of Reference for possible electoral assistance and with the Carter Center which has been accredited for the launching of an Election Observer Mission.
