The Guyana Elections Commission made a decision against a proposal by Chief Election Officer, Vishnu Persaud, for cameras to be installed at polling places as part of the efforts to safeguard the electoral process and guard against voter impersonation and fraud.

Persaud compiled a report on the proposal and its feasibility and that was submitted to the Commission.  However, there was no consideration of the proposal and it was not catered for in the Commission’s budget plan for this year.

The revelation was made during a recent meeting between the Guyana Elections Commission and the leadership of the Alliance For Change.

In a leaked audio recording of the meeting, which surfaced on the Facebook page of journalist Travis Chase, the Chief Elections Officer could be heard explaining that he prepared a proposal and submitted that proposal to the Commission with the primary feature being the use of cameras as a security measure in relation to recording the activity at polling places.

He said the level of consideration given to the proposal was not the same as the use of biometrics.

“It is something that was envisaged where we needed to come and get the Commission’s approval in line with the justification for the installation of cameras and therefore it was something that we believe that the secretariat that we have the capacity to procure, install, see that it works effectively, retrieve and put into secure custody the footage for those cameras,” the Chief Elections Officer said.

Mr. Persaud told the meeting that the use of cameras at polling places could have addressed issues relative to allegations of multiple voting and voter impersonation.

“From where I stand for the person who will be responsible for the implementation for the use of cameras, I don’t see that the same considerations relative to biometrics would be applicable to the use of camera,” the CEO could be heard saying.

During the meeting, the Chairman of the Elections Commission, retired Justice Claudette Singh, was heard telling the meeting that the issue is still before the Commission and has not entirely been ruled out.

It was explained that although the proposal was not part of the budget plans, the Commission could seek additional funding through the National Assembly to cater for any additional plan. 

GECOM is preparing to host elections this year, and the Opposition parties continue to press the commission on issues related to biometrics and other security measures for the polls.

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