
General Secretary of the governing People’s Progressive Party, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo today came out in full support of the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission and her recent decision against the implementation of biometrics for the 2025 General and Regional Elections.
In rejecting the use of biometrics, the GECOM Chair explained that it would be unconstitutional to impose another mandatory requirement for voters.
Mr. Jagdeo said the decision of the GECOM Chair is consistent and in line with the Constitution.
“They are vilifying the Chairman of the Elections Commission saying she supports the PPP, what does, she has been consistent in her ruling, she has to preserve the right to vote, she has to act in a constitutional manner and that is what she is doing and if you do that you run afoul of the APNU and the AFC,” Mr. Jagdeo said.
The GECOM Chair had also ruled that while GECOM can implement the fingerprint system, that system will not be feasible in time for the upcoming elections.
Jagdeo said the Opposition’s continued calls for biometrics are really about setting the stage to dispute the elections.
“And it’s not about biometrics or no biometrics, it is what they want to use it for and that is what they spoke of… They want to use it for an unconstitutional purpose which is to prevent people from voting, for example if you show up at the polling station and there is some glitch in the system then you lose your right to vote,” Jagdeo said.
The Vice President added that while biometrics can be used a means for verification, it should not be the final mean for voting.
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“Just imagine the amount of confusion you would have at the polling places in every polling place, because that means you are giving each presiding officer the right to decide who will vote or wouldn’t vote so assume one is pro PPP or pro APNU or something like that, they should not have that right, you cannot have 2,500 presiding officers deciding who has the right to vote, the constitution confers that right on us,” Mr. Jagdeo stated.
Elections are likely to take place before November of this year.
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