The size of the recently released Preliminary List of Electors (PLE), which he says contains 684,354 names, equivalent to over 91% of Guyana’s population at the last census count, is proof that a clean voters’ list is needed before any election is held, Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton said on Tuesday.
“This bloated monstrosity alone provides sufficient grounds to question whether GECOM [the Guyana Elections Commission] can deliver an election that accurately reflects the democratic will of the Guyanese people and wins their trust and confidence. This bloated list cannot,” Norton claimed at his weekly press conference yesterday.
“Despite these and other concerns, GECOM has forged ahead with election preparation as per norm. Chairperson Claudette Singh and the PPP commissioners continue to show total disregard for the concerns of the people of Guyana, inclusive of civil society. They continue to block and vote down the sensible resolutions of the Opposition commissioners,” he added.
Norton explained that the party was able to confirm the number of persons on the PLE owing to its participation in the ongoing claims and objection period in preparation for Local Government Elections (LGE).
“…We are participating because we need to stay on top to get the data to deal with the issues. Had we not participated and gotten the kind of information we got from the inside, we would not have been able to point out that [number on the PLE] until they were released and that it was 91% of the population.
“Participation in this process does not mean you agree to go to an election with the existing voters’ list. Now we have pointed out clearly we have engaged the diplomatic community, we are going to take some political actions which you will see as it relates to a clean voters’ list,” he clarified.
When asked what actions his party will be employing, Norton refused to give details on the grounds that it will inform the government of the next move.
GECOM has already commenced preparations for the hosting of the overdue local government polls. Chair Claudette Singh recently said that the Commission is aiming for the polls by the end of November or early December.
The Opposition has been contending that the list is bloated and includes the names of dead people. It was one of their major contentions towards discrediting the results during the recount process following the failed attempt to rig the 2020 general elections.
Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioners Vincent Alexander Desmond Trotman and Charles Corbin have been calling for a sanitised list and proposed several measures towards this end. Those have been voted down by the government Commissioners with support from the Chair.
At yesterday’s press conference, Norton said that GECOM continues to entirely ignore the conclusions and recommendations of the several 2020 election observer missions – such as CARICOM, the OAS, the EU, and the Carter Center.
He reminded that the CARICOM report on the recount stated that “As a minimum condition of electoral reform, the Team recommends the urgent need for the total re-registration of all voters in Guyana. It is clear that given the state of the voter registration of the country that Guyana was not adequately prepared for the 2020 poll. Yet circumstances beyond the control of the Commission precluded this preparedness. It therefore behooves the Commission to create a new voter registry especially given the suspicion that the 2020 register was bloated, a suspicion which is not without merit.”
Norton said “The APNU+AFC remains steadfast in its demand that before any new elections in Guyana, GECOM must respect and address the concerns of all stakeholders, inclusive of the Guyanese public. We remain steadfast in our call for GECOM to implement the necessary improvements (whether statutory, constitutional, technological, or administrative) to ensure elections of the highest standard.”
The Opposition Leader said that the APNU+AFC is standing by its position that there is a pressing need for a clean voters’ list and identification at polling places. Taking a dig at the GECOM Chair, Norton said “Chairperson Singh and the PPP must face the reality that the majority of Guyanese will not accept any new election results without adequate safeguards and standards.”
The Opposition Commissioners on the Elections Commission recently tabled a motion calling for the introduction of biometrics as part of reforms for the electoral process.
Last Friday, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said that government will move to hold the polls immediately after a formal notification, by which time proposed reforms should be enacted.
Jagdeo also went on to state that government will be advancing amendments to the Representation of the People Act when the National Assembly resumes sitting in October. With the amendments set to be tabled after the parliamentary recess, the Vice President is confident that they will be passed before the hosting of LGE.
