The Opposition People’s National Congress Reform today urged the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM) to begin swiftly examining the implementation of fingerprint biometrics in time for the next General and Regional Elections, which are scheduled for this year.

PNC Reform and Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, today told reporters that it has been two months since the Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud, GECOM received a feasibility study on the use of electronic fingerprint biometrics for registration and voting in the next elections.

Mr. Norton said the study concluded that the use of biometrics technology in Guyana would provide more robust protection and safeguards against voter impersonation, multiple voting, and electoral manipulation.

“There is no reason why we shouldn’t get biometrics, no reason whatsoever, if Ghana can two seventeen million people in under two months, why can’t Guyana do it with 750,000 people. The only reason why we might not be able to do it is because of the incompetence of the government. But I believe if they give GECOM the resources and allow it to operate independently, they can deliver on biometrics with the assistance of specialist from overseas,” Mr. Norton said.

Norton said the Chairperson of the Elections, Claudette Singh, has an obligation to guarantee free and fair elections and to set the ground work for that to take place. 

He said the fact that the Government boasted of registering hundreds of thousands of citizens in a short space of time for the cash grant, demonstrates that similar could be done for the purpose of elections. 

“Let us point out that implementation time could be shortened without compromising quality by, for instance, conducting several processes in parallel, such as training of staff in tandem with the conduct of public education, purchasing a large volume of biometric kits and employing a large body of field staff. Costs should not be a hindrance here. As new ID cards would not be critical at this stage; time need not be devoted to their production and distribution. These processes could occur after the elections, and the lessons and experiences of other countries could be used to avoid difficulties and to adopt best practices,” Norton stated.

Mr. Norton said with the clock ticking and time inching closer for General Elections, the Elections Commission must urgently make a decision on the way forward.

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