GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally addressing the media, in the presence of other members of the commission seated at the head table
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on July 18, announced that it was reopening the Claims and Objections(C&O) Period for 13 days, starting July 25, to accommodate those persons who were not in receipt of their source documents during the initial C&O Period. The decision was not unanimously taken, and saw two of the five commissioners voting against the reopening process at a special meeting held on July 18. GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally told the media after the two- hour-long meeting that the decision by the commission followed intense discussions among the five commissioners.
“… a majority decision was taken at a special statutory Commission meeting, which was held immediately preceding this media conference, that there will be a new round of Claims and Objections,” Dr Surujbally stated. “Ladies and gentlemen, the die has been cast…. The exercise will involve: the re- establishment of temporary offices targeting the entire Guyana; the rehiring of temporary staff to be posted at the various offices; the deployment of mobile registration units to far-flung communities; the accreditation of scrutineers to monitor the registration process, and the advertisement of the conduct of the exercise via all available media.” Surujbally said that approximately 2,237 persons had not been registered because of the lack of source documents.
However, the GECOM head noted there is a possibility that the number of persons as quoted by the commission may just be ‘a small portion of the pie’.
Elections not hindered
Surujbally emphasised that the reopening of the C&O process will not, in any way, hinder the holding of national and regional elections before the constitutionally due date of December 28, as was assured by Chief Elections Officer Gocool Boodoo. “…at the 331st Statutory Meeting, with the chief elections officer pointing out that adequate funds were available for the conduct of a new round of the Claims and Objections exercise, and that the secretariat had determined that such an exercise could be conducted without pushing the elections beyond the constitutional deadline.”
He said the registration process will be no different from that which obtained during the initial C& O exercise.
Those desirous of being registered must provide either their original birth certificates or valid passports, and their residency status will be verified by visits to their given addresses. All fingerprints captured during the exercise will be cross-matched with the fingerprints already in GECOM’s possession to avoid multiple registration.
Scrutineers will be monitoring the entire registration process at the field level across the country, and the particulars of all newly- registered persons will be posted on supplementary lists for public scrutiny.
Legality
As it relates to the legal ramifications associated with the reopening of the C& O Period, Surujbally noted that the commission has the legal right to “exercise general direction and supervision over the registration of electors and the administrative conduct of all elections of members of the National Assembly. It also has the right to issue such instructions and take such action as appear to it necessary or expedient to ensure impartiality, fairness, and compliance with the provisions of the constitution or any act of Parliament on the part of persons exercising powers or performing duties connected with or related to the matters aforesaid. Such is the power of the commission; and it should not be eroded, but we must be perceived to be using this power wisely and effectively.” On that note, the National Registration Act will be amended to facilitate the reopening of the C& O Period.
It was noted that the call to have those non-registered persons accommodated was made by all political parties, and several meetings were conducted with senior representatives of the concerned political parties and the Private Sector Commission (PSC). “All of these entities had one common concern, ie: that they felt/knew that there were many persons who previously could not apply for registration because they were not in possession of their source documents, but who now have those source documents. All of these organisations demanded of GECOM that it try to formulate options which would result in the persons concerned becoming enabled to apply for registration,” he said.
Not cast in stone
Moreover, Dr Surujbally noted that following the concerns of the political parties to have something done to facilitate those persons not registered, one commissioner, Mahmood Shaw, proposed that the C& O Period be reopened. He noted that the recommendation made by the commissioner highlighted that the certification of the Official List of Electors (OLE) scheduled for September 4, and the October 17 date proposed as Election Day, as documented in the draft work plan for the elections, were “not cast in stone”. In noting a precedent, Shaw recalled that the duration of the C& O exercise for the 2006 general and regional elections was extended.
He noted that reopening the C& O Period would provide an opportunity for those concerned persons to be placed on the Preliminary List of Electors, which in turn would aid the credibility of the Official List of Electors (OLE), with time being available for the holding of national elections before the constitutional deadline.
GECOM’s head added that the overriding consideration was the constitutional right of all Guyanese to be registered and to be able to vote.
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