The National Registration (Amendment) Act of 2022 has made it necessary for there to be separate Lists of Electors for the General and Regional Elections, as well as the need for the ballots for both elections to be printed separately, Attorney for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Kurt Da Silva has submitted to the High Court.

“…It would now be necessary for ballots for General Elections and Regional Elections to be printed separately. It would also be necessary for separate Lists of Electors to be generated for the two elections, since some persons would qualify to be electors for General Elections but not be qualified to be electors for Regional Elections,” he said in his written submissions to the Court.

Da Silva is representing GECOM in the House-to-House verification case filed by People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Chief Election Scrutineer, Carol Smith-Joseph.

While Da Silva agreed that residency is not a requirement for persons to vote in the General Election, he submitted that residency is still a Constitutional requirement for Guyanese to vote in Regional Elections under Article 73(1) of the Constitution.

Article 73(1) says 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”.

“General and Regional Elections are almost treated as a single election in Guyana but, in addition to the difference in requirements with respect to residency, they are two separate elections to elect two separate groups of representatives,” he said.

General Elections are held to elect the Members of the National Assembly, and from the results of those elections, the Presidential candidate of the List of Candidates that gained the most votes is deemed to be President elect.  

On the other hand, Regional Elections are held to elect members of Regional Democratic Councils, which comes under the Local Government structure provided for in the Constitution.

Da Silva explained that though these are separate elections, Section 18 of the Local Democratic Organs Act provides that once the elections are being held on the same day, the ballot paper for each election shall be set out on the same sheet of paper and shall bear the same serial number, but must be separated from each other.

In Guyana, General and Regional Elections are traditionally held on the same day, and as such the provision has been ingrained in the elections process as if it were mandatory, but it is only permitted in the law, not required.

Further, it was noted that prior to the amendments in 2022, verification of residence was done for all persons seeking to be registered, so there was no issue with the ballots for both General and Regional Elections being on the same sheet of paper. However, due to the amendments, the provision is no longer applicable and must be addressed.

“It cannot be addressed, however, in the manner suggested by the Applicant, as that suggestion effectively reimposes a residency requirement for Guyanese citizens for General Elections even though this Court has expressly said that this would be unconstitutional. Instead, the change must be to the statutory provision to ensure that the provisions governing the conduct of the elections comply first with the Constitution. As such, it would now be necessary for ballots for General Elections and Regional Elections to be printed separately,” he said.

Da Silva added: “It would also be necessary for separate Lists of Electors to be generated for the two elections, since some persons would qualify to be electors for General Elections but not be qualified to be electors for Regional Elections, for example Guyanese citizens residing outside of Guyana.”

He said this means that Claims and Objections (C&O) in relation to those lists would be based on different criteria, with residence being a factor for Regional Elections but not in relation to Guyanese citizens for General Elections.

Da Silva told the Court that “the residency requirements or criteria for voting in General Elections and Regional Elections are Constitutional, whereas the provision for the inclusion of ballots for both elections on a single sheet of paper is statutory. Therefore, the latter must be brought in line with and be subject to the former, not the other way around.

Acting Chief Justice, Roxane George is set to hand down her ruling in the case on Friday, March 28.

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