Latest update December 17th, 2024 3:32 AM
Trust in GECOM, but tie yuh goat tight!
DEAR EDITOR,
The national dialogue will no doubt be focused on the suitability of the current National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB) for extraction of an Electoral List. An examination of National Registration Laws and practice may bring clarity to clouded minds.
Article 42 of the Constitution provides an entitlement for citizens of Guyana to be so registered. Section 6(4)(b) of the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 denotes that it is the responsibility of eligible persons to apply for registration.
The NRRDB was created by a comprehensive House-to-House exercise in 2008 after the Government of Guyana, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and the Parliamentary Political Parties agreed on June 14, 2007, to the preparation of a new NRR. Thereafter, a system of Continuous Registration was adopted, with two primary objectives:
(1) introducing a system which would ensure that all eligible persons are afforded unlimited opportunities to become registered on the National Register of Registrants Database and;
(2), ensuring that GECOM is in a perpetual state of preparedness which would enable it to respond to calls for elections in a timely manner, thus guaranteeing eligible persons their Constitutional right to become registered in accordance with the relevant legal provisions and to cast their ballots at future General, Regional and Local Government Elections.
Most Guyanese are on the NRRDB, our fingerprints are in the system, they have been cross-matched against every other entry to ensure we are not duplicated in the system; our photos are in the system as are our birthdates and other data such as height and colour of eyes.
This is not an ad hoc Register. Time, energy, thought and scrutiny by all political parties has been part of the creation and continuous update of this Register. It must be a source of pride for anyone associated with GECOM over the last decade.
In any society there are the outliers, in this case, it would be persons who have neglected or by way of circumstance, missed out on the initial House-to-House (as I did) and also missed the many cycles of Continuous Registration since (I have not). Those persons can be added to the NRRDB during the upcoming Claims and Objections period before Elections 2019.
Persons who will turn 18 and are eligible to vote in a September 18th, 2019 have had seven cycles of Continuous Registration in which to get registered, as that eligibility begins at 14; if however those opportunities were missed, registration is possible during the upcoming Claims and Objections period before Elections 2019.
Those residing overseas cannot be lawfully removed from the list, should any political party wish to propose disenfranchisement of non-resident Guyanese, they should state so openly.
The presence of deceased persons on the list should be of little concern, to quote Chris Ram “dead people can’t vote, the last time they did PNC was in power”
The safeguards employed on polling day in Guyana are second to none, I worked as a polling agent to see for myself in 2015 and I remain satisfied by all that I witnessed that once those procedures and norms are allowed and observed, we are well assured of a credible election. It is up to the Political parties to ensure their polling agents are prepared and in place come Election Day, in other words, Trust in GECOM, but tie yuh goat tight!
Respectfully
Robin Singh
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
The oil industry is a casino of cash, power and corruption
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- According to MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow in her book, Blowout: “The oil and gas industry... more
Let the asylum seekers go: a first step for Venezuela to rebuild relations in the Americas
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News – The government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela has steadfast support from many... more
Weekend Cartoon
