Legal officer was instructed to release advice on expired voters’ list

May 17, 2019 News

Legal officer of the Guyana Elections Commission, (GECOM) Excellence Dazzell, was acting on advice of Chairman of the Commission, Justic

PPP Commissioner Robeson Benn

e (ret’d) James Patterson, when she circulated information on the expired voters list to the Commissioners.
People Progressive Party/ Civic, (PPP/C) appointment GECOM Commissioner, Robeson Benn, said that Dazzell was given the green light to forward the information to all the commissioners about a month after the advice was prepared.
According to Benn, PPP-nominated Commissioner Bibi Shadick had requested the information on several occasions, before it was finally released to them.
Benn’s comments on the matter come hours after Government-appointed GECOM Commissioner, Desmond Trotman, criticized the legal officer over her actions calling it deceitful.
Trotman had noted that the Commission had never collectively decided for Dazzell to release the information and called for an investigation into her reason for doing so.
However officials attached to GECOM, including Benn, have dismissed the concerns claiming instead that the legal officer was acting within her authority.
Officials attached to GECOM contended that the legal officer who is responsible for advising GECOM on legal matters related to the electoral process would have indicated the Chairman/Chief Election Officer, (CEO) Keith Lowenfield, before the list expired that it needs to be updated, in accordance to her interpretation of the law.
Dazzell has said based on the law, the list must be updated twice per year by adding persons who are now qualified to be registered to that list and those who are no longer qualified to be taken off that list.
In her advice dated May 13, does not see the need for a new voters’ list. “The use of the word “revise” suggests that the process is not one where a ‘new’ list is generated but one where the most recent list is updated or amended,” she said.
“I, therefore, advise that procedures be put in place to ensure the revision of the list, otherwise the commission would be acting in defiance of the law and may prejudice any by-election that may become necessary,” Dazzell said in the letter dated April 11, 2019.
Officials attached to GECOM said that subsequently Opposition appointed Commissioner Bibi Shadick requested the opinion of the legal officer but she (Dazzell) did not have the permission to release the information.
Shadick had requested the information several times until finally on May 13 last, the information was released.
“The decision to release the memo was made on about a week earlier. Shadick again asked for the legal opinion; this time the Chairman instructed that the memo be disseminated. The memo was given to all commissioners, not just Shadick.” Commissioner Benn noted.
Trotman is refusing to accept the advice, since it is not in keeping with his political position.
Benn noted, too, that the position is not news to the Commissioners since “everyone is well aware that the list must be updated through the claims and objections and continuous registration periods.”
“There was no need for a new list, as long as the active list was being updated in accordance with the law.
“Trotman and the other Government-appointed commissioners are against the revised list. They want a new list which is part of a tactic to delay the elections,” Benn added.
The Government commissioners have been lobbying for house to house registration in the lead up to the general elections. Their position is being viewed by the main political opposition, PPP, as a tactic to delay the elections.
The issue is a key element of case engaging the attention of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the land’s highest regional Appeal Court.
The CCJ is preparing to hand down its decision on the validity of the December 21, 2018 no-confidence motion that might necessitate early general elections.

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