The Opposition APNU+AFC, has written to the Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud, informing him that the request for additional information by GECOM is without basis since the Commission already has the information which forms part of public documents that it can forward to the police to continue their probe.

“Clearly, there was no need for the request since the information needed is on the final list of Voters which is a public document and has nothing to do with the NRR and confidentiality,” Opposition Chief Scrutineer, Carol Smith-Joseph told the CEO in a letter.

Last week, GECOM’s Secretariat wrote the Chief Scrutineer of the APNU+AFC, Carol Smith-Joseph, requesting that additional information be provided to the Commission to be forwarded to the police for them to continue their investigations into the claims of voter impersonation.

“At the request of the APNU+AFC, the Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh on 28th September, 2022 forwarded to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the General Register Office (GRO), the information sent by the APNU+AFC in relation to allegations of voters’ impersonation during the 2020 General and Regional Elections. In this regard, the GPF has since requested that the addresses of the alleged persons to be provided,” the Elections Commission said in the statement.

Earlier this week, GECOM said that it is committed to ensure that the concerns raised by the APNU+AFC are adequately addressed in a prioritized manner to ensure a resolution within the shortest time.

The Commission noted that notwithstanding the fact that it is the custodian of the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB) which contains personal information of all registrants, it cannot release such information to the GPF owing to legal confidentiality issues that might arise.

APNU+AFC officials have said GECOM appears to be employing delay tactics with that excuse since the Commission has the voters list which is not a private document and was posted in the public domain.

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