Guyanese Online Sep 07, 2019 News
According to GECOM, the merger of that data with the National Register of Registrants (NRR) would be followed by an extensive period of claims and objections, but the timeframe for that is unclear.
Otherwise, GECOM discussed the production of new identification (ID) cards, which are very different in configuration, material and design, from the cards currently in circulation. Continue reading
TODAY, the high-level team that journeyed to Jamaica on a fact-finding mission to assess the available options of cross-matching the data gathered from the just concluded House-to-House Registration with the National Register of Registrants Database, will deliver a presentation to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on its findings.
On Monday, the Elections Commission’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yolanda Warde told the Guyana Chronicle that 370,740 Guyanese registered during the House-to-House Registration exercise which came to a close on Saturday, August 31, 2019 in keeping with a unilateral decision taken by the Chairman of GECOM, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, to shorten the period initially allotted for the exercise. Continue reading
Bharrat Jagdeo
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is worried that the merger announced by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) of the data acquired from House-to-House Registration and the National Register of Registrants (NRR) could call the integrity of the future Preliminary List of Electors (OLE) into question.
After considerable deliberations at the Commission on the way forward regarding the conduct of General and Regional Elections, Chairman of GECOM Justice Claudette Singh has instructed that House-to-House Registration must be brought to an end by Saturday, August 31, 2019.
That the data garnered from that registration exercise must be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB) and that the Commission will move to an extensive Claims and Objections Exercise (C&O) before extracting the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).
During a press conference yesterday, Leader of the Opposition and General Secretary of the PPP, Bharrat Jagdeo, elaborated on why the party is in disagreement with the merger.
He said the initial contention is that the process will cause an unnecessary delay in the holding of General and Regional Elections. Jagdeo stated that of the 280,000-plus persons who have already been registered, most of them are likely persons who are already on the NRR. So most of them when entered, he added, will be duplications. He opined that it would waste a lot of time, because to enter all of these names into the database would take months.
The party’s second contention is that the House-to-House exercise was not scrutinised. The Opposition Leader has, since the process started in July, made known his concern that as the process requires its stakeholders to send scrutineers, the lack thereof leaves room for unsavoury interventions that could undermine the integrity of the upcoming General and Regional Elections.
Jagdeo had said that, because the PPP did not support the exercise, it would not send scrutineers to participate.
He worries now that the exercise could have registered “fake people” and migrants who have not yet been residents of Guyana long enough to earn the right to vote. He also contended that thousands of persons would be disenfranchised if their names are removed from the list.
The General Secretary said that this could specifically disenfranchise persons in certain hinterland communities, which are strongholds of the PPP. This contention, however, flies in the face of another statement by the Opposition Leader during the same press conference, that the Chief Justice’s ruling on Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram’s legal challenge to House-to-House registration meant that worries about deregistration are a thing of the past.
Asked whether the PPP would make a concerted effort to challenge the merger, Jagdeo said it wouldn’t.
He said he is hopeful that the right decision will be made soon.
BREAKING: House-to-house registration to end on August 31, 2019
Posted by: Denis Chabrol in Demerara Waves – August 27, 2019
The Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh has ordered that the now more-than-one-month-old house-to-house registration will come to an end on Saturday, August 31 and the data would be merged.
“Cognizant of all that has transpired over the past months, GECOM has an obligation to produce a credible Official List of Electors (OLE) in the first instance and ultimately credible elections within the shortest possible time,” Justice Singh stated.
Continue reading
By Svetlana Marshall – IN preparation of the imminent General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), on Saturday August 17, 2019, commenced the process of training polling day staff. This includes the training of presiding officers, assistant presiding officers, ballot clerks, poll clerks and information clerks among others.
The training exercise was rolled out in 20 locations across Georgetown, and over the next six to eight weeks will be conducted in other communities across Guyana. Continue reading
Chief Justice Roxane George
The house-to-house registration exercise which has been embarked upon by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) in order to compile an Official List of Electors (OLE) for the holding of general and regional elections has been declared legal by Chief Justice Roxane George.
The Chief Justice was asked by Attorney-at-Law Christopher Ram to look into the constitutionality of the registration process. Ram had approached the court, asking for a Conservatory Order halting GECOM from continuing the house-to-house registration exercise which he argued was in violation of Articles 106 (6) and (7) of the Constitution as well as the judgment of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Continue reading
President David Granger and Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo yesterday met at State House to discuss the current political situation, and matters relating to the holding of General and Regional Elections.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo meets President David Granger
The President on Thursday last had explained, after Government’s meeting with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), that Government’s efforts are aimed at keeping with the Consequential Order of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), that deliberations between the major stakeholders moving forward must assume a consensual overtone, and move away from unilateralism. Continue reading
Chief Justice Roxane George
In the meantime, Attorney General Basil Williams, who is a Respondent in the matter, has asked the court to allow the registration exercise which commenced on July 20, to continue, on the basis that it is “the most doable mechanism to update the voters’ list in preparation for free, fair and credible general and regional elections”. Continue reading
No walkouts, only law-based decisions for free, fair and transparent elections- new GECOM Chairman
– Demerara Waves – July 29, 2019
Newly-appointed Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Retired Justice Claudette Singh on Monday vowed to make decisions based on Guyana’s laws and the constitution, while signaling that she would not tolerate any walkouts from meetings of the seven-member commission. Continue reading
Guyana: Stabroek News- 26 July 2019.
Following a meeting with Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, President David Granger has appointed retired judge Claudette Singh as the new Chairperson of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). Continue reading
