Dear Editor,
I note, with alarm, the admission by the Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission that it is tinkering with the Revised List of Electors (RLE), following its publication on the 4th January, 2020.
The publication of the RLE is a statutory event and similarly, very limited scope is available to the Commissioner of National Registration to make changes to the RLE, after it is published.
This is limited to entries or omissions that are incorrect due to inadvertence. The circumstances now being relied upon can hardly be considered as inadvertence.
More importantly, the widespread changes being executed by the Secretariat will not be subject to any scrutiny and these changes will only be known after the publication of the Official List of Electors (OLE). At this time there is no opportunity for errors, either deliberate or intentional, to be corrected.
It does not inspire confidence in the integrity of the process when the following is considered:
1. It was undertaken clandestinely without the knowledge of the entire Commission;
2. It is being undertaken by the very department that was previously responsible for the bungled handling of data collected during the House to House Registration exercise.
Up to the present time, no information has been provided to the Commission regarding the process being utilized or the number of records to which changes are being made. It should be noted that any change to an elector’s record is a statutory process, requiring the use of statutory forms. This process has clearly not been complied with.
All things considered, the only likely outcome of this process is confusion to the electorate, particularly with Elections Day a mere weeks ahead.
It is unlawful and ought to be immediately discontinued.
Yours faithfully,
Sase Gunraj
Commissioner
Guyana Elections Commission
