Why Biometrics cannot work in Guyana in 2025?

Nov 25, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor

It baffles me that less than twelve (12) months before a General Elections, the PNC and their associated fringe parties have now found the voice to call for biometric technology. Have they not observed even the frustration of His Excellency the President at how Project Management is being poorly implemented and they expect GECOM to achieve this feat more efficiently in a GPL (blackout, high voltage, etc) infested Guyana?

While biometric technology is expensive, what the PNC is not telling the nation is that implementing biometric technology requires some vital input and the most important one is time and the required number of trained persons. Yes, time to train sufficient staff to implement the new technology. Time to conduct a total house-to-house registration process and issue every single registrant with a new voter ID card. Time to procure all the equipment test them and make them fully operational. Time to ensure the electricity supply system can power up these systems in a dependable manner. Time to market to the nation to build confidence and trust in the new system.

What the PNC is not telling you is that on that 2020 General Elections Day (under President David Granger), Guyana experienced its best election day process ever. Everyone who was eligible to vote and turned up to vote was allowed to vote in March 2020. So the system worked in all ten regions until the Region 4 Team sought to disrupt a very smooth process at the Ashmin’s Building. So why change what is working?

Mr. Editor, please permit me to call on the Chairman of GECOM as one citizen speaking to another citizen. Madam Chairman, there is great uncertainty over the effectiveness and value of biometric technology today in Guyana. Please use the experience from the National Census conducted by the Bureau of Statistics. It has been 2 years since they have completed that process and still, this nation cannot even have the draft report on this matter from the incompetent people at the Bureau of Statistics. If the Bureau of Statistics is this incompetent at Project Management of the National Census (where they are trained statisticians on their staff), can you imagine how much more incompetent GECOM will be without the necessary skill set in-house?

Then there is GP-HELL. How are these machines expected to work in 2025 in an environment where GPL cannot provide reliable electricity? GPL is the primary reason why biometrics should be held off. Until we have a reliable electricity supply, the cost to this country will be enormous if we depend on biometric technology that fails on election night. Blackouts without a paper system involve a high probability of seriously disputed elections that would escalate into violence. “Mo fiya, slow fiya!” Is this what Mr. Nigel Hughes wants?

Why can’t the PNC build on the experience and momentum discovered on Elections Day in March 2020 to create a stronger system with the army of teachers who are now a permanent asset in elections management in this country? Why can’t the PNC ask GECOM to retrain all of its scrutineers and also pay all of its scrutineers who completed the training some $10,000 to conduct the training and a further $10,000 to work on Elections Day? This would be a better approach to ensuring we have free and fair elections using the paper-based system – real people, with real training, real motivation, real incentives, and real skills to highlight to their party and the media all instances of discomfort on the paper-based process (assuming the PPP is up to no good).

With careful planning and a house-to-house registration process in 2026, we can then also simultaneously implement the biometric system for the 2030 elections (with the Gas to Shore Project fully functional and providing reliable electricity). But to force the issue now, will result in total chaos in the 2025 elections. I trust the Americans understand that the donor community must not force this issue at this late stage. Guyana is not ready yet for a biometric system in our elections.