Willful disenfranchisement

Nov 05, 2019 Letters

Dear Editor,

At five billion dollars and counting, General and Regional Elections are a tremendous burden for our nation’s fledgling economy to bear.
Chairman of GECOM, Madam Claudette Singh seems intent doubling our bill by laying the grounds for vitiation of the March 2020 poll, with her ‘ruling’ to disenfranchise 25,000 voters who have neglected to collect identification cards from GECOM offices since 2008. In a strangely worded article carried in the state newspaper, Chairman Singh is quoted as saying “Cognizant of the CJ’s ruling that GECOM should consider other methods of verification…I rule that notices by registered post be sent to the last address of such persons [and] also that their names be published in the daily newspapers…”.
The logical ‘other methods of verification’ are the tried, tested and proven method of a period of Claims and Objections that are a statutory requirement for all elections- General, Regional and Local Government.
GECOM Commissioners- Charles Corbin, Vincent Alexander, and Desmond Trotman- have been joined by Claudette Singh in their quest to disenfranchise 25,000 voters.
The invention of an arbitrary new method of verification not supported by any scientific or social theory, which has not been tested before, is an unfair imposition on the populace. There is no nexus between uplifting an ID card and voting.
It is as random, as say, a requirement of a minimum of four facial moles is needed to vote, and, equally ridiculous.
But this is how fascism works- it comes in small, seemingly innocuous increments, today, uplift your ID card or no vote; tomorrow, ensure you have a Taxpayers Identification Number… then one day it is only those with party cards can vote.
History is replete with examples of fascist states. In Guyana, we used to call it ‘party paramountcy’, but the principle is the same, a one-party state.
The 25,000 persons who have failed to uplift Identification Cards are largely from Region Four, APNU/AFC Commissioners are seeking to disenfranchise persons in the capital city they are being aided in this nefarious quest.
It begs the question of why, for whose benefit and what are the possible consequences, intended and unintended of this action. Why seek to take names off the voters’ list? Do they cause a problem by being there? What harm is caused by leaving the names on the OLV?
There will be tens of thousands on that OLV who will not exercise the right to vote for one reason or the other, should they be taken off also?
Why the 25,000 and not those who did not vote in 2015 or 2018? The removal of the 25,000 names is an act of willful mischief and ignorance that cannot be allowed to stand.
Editor, I believe that the disenfranchisement of mainly Georgetown voters is being done to cause anger, bitterness, hurt, mayhem and chaos, this will ultimately, brand the polls as unfair and invalid. This would be to the benefit of David Granger in his obdurate quest to hang onto power for as long as possible. The unintended (?) consequences range from verbal abuse of polling staff to a full-fledged civil war and all that falls between.
The setting of the stage to create instability and mayhem in our nation at this critical juncture of our history is unforgivable and unpardonable.
We all want a peaceful and stable Guyana, at this juncture, we have to ask friendly nations and organizations to exert maximum pressure on GECOM and the Granger administration to behave in a civilized manner that respects our constitution as the supreme law of the land.
Both GECOM and Granger must be urged to comply with the norms of democracy and to act within the laws of the land. Personal sanctions should be applied to anyone that seeks to disenfranchise any eligible voter from exercising their franchise on Election Day 2020. The International Criminal Court must not be the last resort or an after-the-fact institution. The Right to vote is fundamental; there is a consequence to action and certainly this action of willful disenfranchisement against the backdrop of our electoral history of violence should be protested by all patriotic Guyanese and our friends in the international community and must be stopped or must be prosecuted before their effects and consequences are fully realized.
A stitch in time may save nine, or in this case, lives and democracy.
Robin Singh

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