GECOM assures of safeguards being in place to prevent elections "skullduggery" next year

Four years after the highly controversial 2020 Elections which were dogged with claims of fraud, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has assured that there are “safeguards in place to prevent multiple voting and other forms of skullduggery on Elections Day,” as the country prepares for national elections in 2025.

In a direct response to calls by the Alliance For Change (AFC) for a “comprehensive update” on measures being implemented by the Elections Secretariat to improve the electoral system, the Elections Commission Secretariat said there are multiple safeguards in place to protect the integrity of the country’s electoral system.

“The safeguards include, but are not limited to, (i) the presence of political party agents at each polling station, (ii) accurate identification of the voter, (iii) the use of indelible ink, (iv) the presence of security personnel from the Guyana Police Force, (v) the conduct of an intensive voter education campaign, (vi) adequate training of Election Day staff for efficient conduct of the polls, (vii) counting of ballots at the place of poll in the presence of authorized representatives of the contesting parties, and (viii) the presence of local and international observers throughout the voting and counting processes,” GECOM said in a statement today.

At its last press conference, the Alliance For Change proposed that in addition to the existing systems, the Commission adopts the use of biometrics at the place of poll.

But while reminding all stakeholders that the Commission’s operations are guided by the Laws of Guyana, the statement from GECOM said current laws do not provide for the use of biometrics, as previously indicated by the Chairman of the Elections Commission, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh.

“In this regard, it is of paramount importance to recall that, in so doing the GECOM Chairman has emphasized that GECOM cannot and will not act outside of the extant statutory provisions pertaining to the conduct of National Registration, Local Government Elections and General and Regional Elections. More specifically, it must be emphasized that the introduction of biometrics requires legislative changes and, until such is enabled, GECOM cannot proceed with implementing such a feature,” GECOM said.

It was explained that the GECOM Chairman had facilitated discussions on a motion that was moved by a member of the Commission proposing the introduction of digital fingerprint capture during registration, and the introduction of biometric fingerprint identification of voters at polling stations.

It was noted that those discussions resulted in a decision being taken for a feasibility study to be conducted into the viability of introducing digital fingerprint capture and the use of biometrics in line with the Motion.

The feasibility study, according to GECOM, has since been completed and is under review by members of the Commission.

Additionally, in response to calls for a clean and updated voters’ list, the GECOM Secretariat cited the ruling of Acting Chief Justice Roxanne George as it relates to the removal of names of persons from the National Register of Registrants Database.

“This decision of the Chief Justice (ag) was never appealed. Accordingly, GECOM cannot update the NRRDB or any list, or any list extracted therefrom, except by way of the existing legal provisions,” she said.

However, it was made clear that GECOM routinely updates the National Register on the basis of reports in relation to deceased persons that are received from the General Register Office. Beyond this, the voters list is sanitized and updated through Claims and Objections Exercises, the statement indicated.

Further, GECOM said the Chief Election Officer has written to the Chief Medical Officer and the Commissioner of Police to periodically provide GECOM with reports of deceased persons. Upon receipt of such reports, GECOM will have a basis to further sanitize and update the National Register, subject to verification of the information received.