Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton today said he remains firm in his call for a new voters’ list and the use of biometrics for next year’s general elections, declaring that the technology should be part of the Guyana Elections Commission’s efforts toward upgrading and improving the electoral process.

At a press conference this morning, Mr. Norton said there will be intense discussion on how the Opposition can make its case and what action it can take ahead of the polls next year to have its demands met.

“We are continuing the work for a proper voter’s list, I am aware that shortly, there will be some intense discussions on the question of biometrics and a clean voters list, our Commissioners at GECOM are briefed and will be taking their position on that, I do not believe that the current voter’s list can be used a basis for anything,” the Opposition Leader said.

Last week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo frowned upon the Opposition’s repeated calls for a new voters’ list. 

As of March this year, the voters’ list had more than 700,000 names, which is almost the size of the country’s population. The Opposition has described the list as “bloated” and believes that it could lead to several issues at the 2025 elections.

“On what I average the voters list should be, I don’t see it exceeding 600,000, it will be virtually impossible but again, the PPP does nothing that is data driven, they pull everything from the sky,” Norton noted.

Mr. Norton said the current size of the voters list provides sufficient grounds to question whether the Elections Commission can deliver an election that accurately reflects the democratic will of the Guyanese people.

In effect, Mr. Norton wants the National Register of Registrants Database to be completely revamped.

He said the coalition opposition, A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) remains steadfast in its demand that before any new elections in Guyana, GECOM must address the concerns of all stakeholders.

Several Heads of Mission, including the European Union, CARICOM and the Carter Center, had highlighted in their observers reports of the last elections, that there is the need for the cleansing of the voters’ list.

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