Dear Editor,
In the USA, we have the Trumpians, now called “election deniers”, peddling propaganda that the 2020 US elections were rigged to benefit the Democrats, despite no evidence. The PNC can be called “election deniers” too, making up fanciful stories that dead people and diasporans voted in Guyana in 2020. The only party in Guyana which intentionally set out to cheat at elections was the PNC and their founder rigger Forbes Burnham.
When the PNC got into Government in 1968, it had no intention of getting out, rigging all elections until 1992, and using overseas voting as part of its strategy. It took enormous efforts to restore free and fair elections in 1992, including a former US President coming to Guyana as an election observer. Guyanese must never allow the PNC to get in to rig elections again. After being in the doldrums for 23 years, the people voted for the PNC in 2015. In Region 8, there was a one vote difference between the PNC and PPP. The PPP elections petition was never heard. Why? It’s possible the PPP may have won the 2015 elections.
In 2020, the PNC tried to rig the counting of the votes in the full presence of foreign observers. The nation was in trauma for 5 months. It took the action of the Caribbean Court of Justice to pronounce on the final election results. The current shenanigans by the PNC about the voters’ list being bloated is really a non-issue. The bloatedness of the list is testimony to the failures of both the PNC and the PPP to have any consensus about anything after 60 years of poisonous politics. A new Third Force must pledge to move the process of Constitutional Reform forward to make substantial reforms to our elections system. What we need to know is if there is an efficient system being used to remove dead people in Guyana from the Voters List.
The Guyana voting system is more rigorous that our system here in North Carolina. The Republicans wanted Voter ID Cards to be used but the Courts ruled ID cards are not required. On voting day, once you have registered to vote previously, you go to the voting station and you give your name and address to a worker behind the computer. No ID card or proof of residency is needed. Your name is not announced. There is not a pool of representatives from all parties to cross off your names as happens in Guyana. There is no Voters’ List posted anywhere. You get a card in the mail indicating your Voting Place. They have no way of knowing whether the name and address you give them is honest and accurate.
It is an “honour” system. If you are found to have committed impersonation or voted fraudulently, then you will get into trouble. There is no house-to-house registration here. You can register to vote by filling out a form and sending it in to the local County Board of Elections, or at the time when you are renewing your driver’s licence. Any group of volunteers can set up a table and register people to vote by submitting the completed forms to the County Board where you live. Anyone can do “Early voting” two weeks prior to Election Day. You can also register to vote during early voting.
In the Guyana system, since the 1992 post-PNC reforms where votes are counted at the place of poll, it is not possible to vote illegally. It is not possible for the dead to vote. Since overseas voting was abolished, it is not possible for an overseas based person to vote unless he or she is in Guyana physically. The PNC must cease all its theatrics now and stop being obstructionists. There is no need for fingerprinting of voters. You have their pictures. What GECOM must do is ensure diversity in elections staff to prevent PNC operatives in GECOM from conniving to carfuffle the elections as they did in 2020. That’s the problem we must fix!
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
