Latest update November 21st, 2024 1:00 AM
GECOM Commissioner sees need for national integrated database
- Says will help alleviate issues raised during election process
GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander
Given the historic concerns about the Official List of Electors (OLE), one of the Commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander, believes a central database will help to alleviate the issues which are often raised by the political parties during the election process.
Persons who have died have appeared on the OLE (voters’ list) and there are reports that foreigners have been issued Guyana birth certificates which enabled them to register through GECOM. According to Alexander, the database should be an integrated system for both births and deaths, with the important task of keeping a clean GECOM database.
“What we do now is that we take people off the register based on a report submitted by the registrar of deaths. The chances are that not all of the deaths are registered. We have had in the past, the case of Viola Burnham (former First Lady), where the nation knew she died and she was still on the list. Sometimes around election time we have a frenzy to issue birth certificates and the system becomes susceptible to all sort of things, like foreigners getting birth certificates,” Alexander stated.
He noted that having different agencies generate information that feeds into GECOM will continue to create challenges in connection with election results.
“In some regards why do we need all of these different databases. What we probably need is one national database that different organisations will access for the purposes that fall within their scope of work, so that they are not accessing the creation of the base itself nor editing the content. All they are doing is using it, so one body does the creation of this database and becomes the custodian of the database,” Alexander stated.
He pointed out that GECOM has made the recommendation for a national database in the past and for GECOM to be the custodian of the base. However, despite various representations, the idea was turned down.
“What is needed is the political will to establish the database. We have approached the relevant Government ministries in the past and they have no interest. Yet, every time we have elections, persons complain that the names of persons who have died are appearing on the list. GECOM has made their position known. We have to bite the bullet some day and get it done,” Alexander stated.
He pointed to Jamaica, where at one time there were serious contentions about the voters’ list. He said Jamaica has taken the approach of establishing a national database which can be accessed by various government agencies, thereby creating a better business environment.
“Jamaica, where elections were once most contentious; where one year an orphanage was burnt down…Jamaica parties may still quarrel, but not about the list. I think significant work has been done in Guyana for us not to quarrel about the list,” Alexander concluded.
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