…as H2H set come to a halt
On the heels of a decision by Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, to halt House-to-House Registration by Saturday, the Secretariat has decided to increase working hours for its staff in the fields.
According to a statement from the Commission, staff will now have to work from 10:00h to 19:30h. Previously, enumerators worked varying hours based on which geographical region they were based and whether they worked on weekdays or weekends and holidays.
For instance, enumerators working in Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Four (Demerara-Mahaica), Five (Mahaica-Berbice), Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) were scheduled to work between 15:30h and 18:30h on weekdays.
Enumerators in Regions One (Barima-Waini), Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) were, meanwhile, supposed to work between 09:00h and 16:00h on weekdays. Meanwhile, these workers were also scheduled to work the same hours for weekends and holidays.
Over the past few weeks, GECOM undertook House-to-House Registration, which was last conducted in 2008. The exercise saw enumerators going in teams of two to three, from door to door in various communities across Guyana.
The enumerators then present forms to registrants to fill up, as well as take fingerprints and pictures. The exercise is intended to produce a new National Register of Registrants (NRR) Database and Official List of Electors (OLE).
This had meant that everyone, regardless of whether they were registered before or not, must register anew at their place of residence between July 20 and October of this year. However, a No-Confidence Motion was passed against the Government since December 21 of last year, necessitating elections in three months.
Problems
In addition, the requirement for proof of residency had produced alarm for overseas-based Guyanese, to the point where a court case was filed earlier this year by an overseas-based Guyanese against House-to-House Registration, on the basis that it would disenfranchise her. That case was later withdrawn out of the belief that GECOM would adhere to the recent Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) rulings which reiterated the need for elections in three months.
It is because of this that attorney and advocate Christopher Ram brought a case against GECOM. Ram sought an order compelling the Commission to stop their House-to-House exercise. Previously, the court had denied Ram’s application for an interim conservatory order to block GECOM from continuing its House-to-House exercise that began on July 20.
Subsequently, GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, through Trinidadian lawyer Stanley Marcus, had sought the Chief Justice’s recusal, on the grounds of a statement she caused her office to send out which they contended was biased.
GECOM had been waiting on that ruling and when it arrived on August 14, acting Chief Justice Roxane George ruled that while the exercise was not illegal, GECOM must be cognisant of the need for elections as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette “Iron lady” Singh, ordered an end to the ongoing House-to-House Registration exercise, bringing an end to a controversial chapter of GECOM’s recent history.
The decision was taken at a statutory meeting, where she decided that the exercise will be concluded as of August 31, 2019, and that GECOM will afterwards embark on more concrete steps towards the hosting of General and Regional Elections.
A decision has also been taken that the data gathered so far by the House-to-House exercise will be merged with the existing database. Further, a statement from GECOM explained that the Chairperson has decided that the Commission will move to an extensive Claims and Objections exercise to extract the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).
