I look forward to having my GECOM arguments confirmed

Jul 31, 2019 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Having established that the accuracy and integrity of the National Register of Registrants Data Base (NRRDB) is intact and supported by a recent statement by GECOM CEO Keith Lowenfield that it can be used for elections and only needs a ‘claims and objections’ exercise to update it for enfranchisement of all possible electors, the question of the ongoing House-to-House registration exercise is raised. Why is it being done at such a critical juncture? The answer lies in an examination of Mr. Lowenfield’s statements of 23rd July 2019: Lowenfield, was asked whether the expired list is considered ‘bloated’. He responded, “We have a list that was expired… as of April 30… that was used for our election, for registration, etc. Bloat is not a word I’ll affix to it.” Lowenfield was then asked, “Can the list, if refreshed, be used to conduct a free and fair election?” “That’s correct,” he responded, “Always has and always will.”
First, we must understand the difference between the Official List of Voters (OLV) and the NRR; The NRR being a data base of all persons registered in Guyana, a mandatory requirement upon achieving the age of 14, and usually done during a cycle of Continuous registration (Twice per year). The OLV is extracted from the NRR and does not include persons who would not have attained age 18 before an Election date. The OLV is not created until an election date is announced. An OLV expires 6 months after use; hence, the OLV that was used in the 2018 Local Government Elections expired on 30th April 2019. The NRRDB however, never expires and is available for use in many more elections in the near and distant future, with continuous updating of course.
Therefore to create a new OLV, an Election date must first be set, only then can a ‘cut-off’ date be set to ensure all registrants who attain the age of 18 on or before polling day are enfranchised.
Mr. Lowenfield also mentioned preparations for General and Regional Elections on or before the constitutionally mandated September 2019, were being done ‘concurrently’. It is here we must ask the question why? If the NRRDB is intact and a list can be extracted and any disenfranchisement issues solved with a brief period of Claims and Objections, then why a House-to-House exercise would be necessitated? The short answer is that it is not.
The GECOM Secretariat has two separate but related functions; (1) the Secretariat is responsible for the administration and conduct of elections in Guyana. (2) The Secretariat also performs the tasks of the National Registration Centre under the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 and the CEO acts as the National Commissioner for Registration. The National Registration Centre has responsibility for the registration of electors and maintenance of the registers.
Mr. Lowenfield is wearing two hats and has been given two tasks with separate budgets; $3 Billion for General Elections and $3 Billion for House-to-House (HtH). Mr. Lowenfield received a directive for conduct of HtH from then Chairman James Patterson and is executing same. Mr. Lowenfield also seems aware of the responsibilities placed on his shoulders by the Constitution and is ‘concurrently’ spending the other $3B on preparations for General and Regional Elections in September 2019. We have all been led a merry dance complete with smoke, mirrors and no doubt a fair share of pliers and batteries!
I have seen no evidence that Mr. Lowenfield intends to disenfranchise the masses by ‘scrapping’ the NRRDB and certainly no move to replace it before 18th September, 2019. I look forward to having my arguments confirmed when Mr. Lowenfield meets with the new Chair and her Commission.

Respectfully
Robin Singh

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