Longstanding Commissioner at the Guyana Elections Commission, Vincent Alexander, is warning that the system of Representative Democracy in Guyana can become skewed if Guyanese are allowed to vote anywhere, regardless of their address.

Alexander weighed in on the issue last Friday, moments after the Attorneys in the House-to-House Verification Case wrapped up their arguments in the High Court before acting Chief Justice, Roxane George.

Attorney General Anil Nandlall, who is among respondents, has argued that residency is not a requirement for voting in Guyana as outlined by Article 159 of the Constitution. He said as such, there is no need for verification of residence.

But Alexander, who sat through Friday’s oral arguments, explained that while Article 159 sets the conditions for voting – Guyanese 18 years or older and Commonwealth citizens who are domiciled and resident in Guyana – there are other Constitutional and legal conditions for voting in Regional, Local, and the constituency component of the General Elections.

Citing Article 9 of the Constitution, he said it speaks to the System of Representative Democracy, where leaders are elected by the people they represent.

“If you are talking about the representative nature of something, you are talking about the relationship between the voter and the representative. You can’t have a relationship between a voter and a representative, where a voter can decide where he is going to be voting when in fact he or she might not be living there. That corrupts the democracy which requires voters, in relation to Local Elections, Regional Elections, and the constituency element of the election to vote for their representatives,” Alexander said.

In the case of Regional Election, Article 73 (1) of the Constitution states that “Members of a Regional Democratic Council shall be elected by persons residing in the Region and registered as electors for the purpose of Article 159.”

Alexander said it is therefore important for the addresses of voters to be verified before they are registered for that election and allowed to vote.

“Your representation has to do with the fact, that that organ makes decision in relation to you, where you reside, and so you can’t give an address just because you want to give an address, and then go and vote and have a result which then skews the results, because the people there are in some regards are disenfranchised because their votes no longer have the weight and value it should have because people who do not belong there would have casted a vote there, therefore to skew the results for  the particular local area, regional area and constituency,” the longstanding election commissioner explained.

 He said the case brought by People’s National Congress/Reform (PNCR) Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph does not only speak to General Elections, but addresses the issue of registration for Local, Regional and General Elections, and highlights the importance of verification.

“We have to look and ask ourselves the question, why did we introduce in 1980 a system of local democracy with a principle in the Constitution, which is a superior law in the context to what is being referred to, cannot be changed without a two-thirds majority, which specifies the representative nature of our democracy, and the fact that the local people are electing their representatives to make decisions on their behalf. How could you have others then step in as a matter of choice to go and vote where they don’t belong?” Alexander reasoned.

Last Friday, Counsel for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Kurt Da Silva told the Court that as outlined in Article 73 residency is still a constitutional requirement for Guyanese to vote in Regional Elections, and addresses provided by persons seeking to register for those elections must be verified. 

The Acting Chief Justice will hand down her ruling in this matter on April 3.

Related posts:

Attorney General clashes with GECOM Counsel in Verification case; Acting Chief Justice delays decision to April 3 Separate lists of electors and separate ballots required for General and Regional Elections -GECOM Counsel Eligible Disciplined Services Members who did not vote last Friday can vote on June 12 -says GECOM GECOM seeks assistance of Chief Immigration Officer on issue of “migrant voters” -Alexander