‘No law preventing GECOM from employing digital fingerprinting at elections’

Feb 07, 2025 News

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—but Chairman says time to introduce system too short

Kaieteur News- The introduction of fingerprint biometrics and any focus on such must be shelved until after the 2025 General and Regional Elections. This was disclosed by the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice Retired Claudette Singh via a statement dated February 4, 2025.

The statement which was posted via the Facebook Page of Commissioner Clement Rohee said “At the last meeting, I gave an undertaking that I will give thought to the proposal to introduce digital fingerprint capture as a component of the registration process. In so doing, I have recognised that going in that direction is easier said than done.”

The GECOM Chair said that in outlining her position on the digital fingerprint capture matter, she had mentioned “Section 9(1A) of the National Registration Act as amended by Act 14 of 2005 empowers the Commission to determine from time-to-time procedures for the acquisition and electronic processing of data.”

Taking this into consideration, Singh highlighted that there is nothing in the law or otherwise that is currently preventing the system from being introduced where the fingerprints can be taken digitally, as it is the Commission that is empowered to determine such procedures. “This is still my opinion. However, I maintain apart from the necessary elements of implementing such a system, such as procurement of equipment, training of personnel and education of the public, there is still the need for the Commission to address other issues such as ensuring that there is adequate legislation pertaining to the security of prints,” the GECOM Chair said.

In the statement, she explained that although the technology exists to facilitate digital fingerprint capture to be introduced, it will be a new thing for GECOM and it must be ensure that all bases are covered. It would be a necessity to hire a Technical Consultant to advise on the way forward if the Commission is to have this done in a comprehensive manner.

“In this regard, our first step would have to be in defining the objectives and scope to create the Terms of Reference to advertise locally and overseas for Expressions of Interest (EoI), leading to the hiring of such a consultant,” the Chair explained.

She further explained that, “The Consultant would then be required, based on research and analysis, to prepare a project taking all variables into consideration including technological, legal, financial and operational frameworks. In my view, this is what should be our first step in the direction of introducing digital fingerprint capture during the registration process.”

According to Singh, conceiving a project for capture of fingerprint digitally should not be done at the same time with preparations for the upcoming elections because there will be challenges in logistics, technical considerations, political and social acceptance issues, and also the costs.

Additionally, she said the preparations for the conduct of the upcoming General and Regional elections will require extensive planning and coordination among various stakeholders, therefore the introduction a new technology like digital fingerprint capture during those preparations, “will add another layer of complexity that could strain resources and personnel.”

“Therefore, there should be separation of these two projects which will facilitate more thorough planning, stakeholder engagement, procurement, testing and, will ultimately lead to a more secure and trustworthy data capture and storage process.” She added: “Our foremost responsibility is to prepare for and conduct the upcoming general and regional elections with the strictest conformity with the extant laws and international standards. We must not be distracted from our constitutional responsibility with which the Commission is charged,” she said.  Taking this into consideration, “any focus on preparations for the introduction of biometric fingerprint capture must be shelved until after the upcoming elections. At that stage, we can take the first step towards digital fingerprint capture,” the Chairman said.

The issue of implementing biometrics and the digital capture of fingerprint before the upcoming elections has been extensively discussed in the public domain over the past few months. The political opposition has been calling for the implementation of biometrics at this year’s elections. The government while saying it is not opposed to the system said the decision has to be made by GECOM and that voters should not be disenfranchised.

Late last year, the Joint Opposition had emphasized its support for the full implementation of biometrics throughout the election process. The joint statement outlined the party’s support for the capture of fingerprints digitally in the registration process (to enhance the quality of fingerprints available to the Commission and aid in the prevention of multiple registration) and digitized fingerprint identification at the place of poll (to prevent voter impersonation or identity theft). “We express our preparedness to lend support to all the necessary stages to arrive at this outcome, including enacting constitutional and statutory changes, if necessary,” the joint opposition said in statement back in November last year. The opposition said too that it stands ready to engage in all necessary discussions at the GECOM level, the parliamentary level, and/or at the inter-party level to resolve these concerns to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, including the Guyanese people. “We recognise and support GECOM’s position that stakeholder involvement should be integral to the process,” the two parties added in the statement while calling on GECOM to promptly engage stakeholders before finalising its internal discussions on the way forward.

(‘No law preventing GECOM from employing digital fingerprinting at elections’)

(No law preventing GECOM)

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• biometrics, Chairman, Commission, Elections, GECOM

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