GECOM Chair says… 20,000-plus unverified registrants will be allowed to vote

Persons who have not collected their identification cards from the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) need not worry about being left out of the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections. They will still be allowed to vote.

Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chair, Justice Claudette Singh S.C. sat down with Kaieteur Radio yesterday, and provided clarity on this matter that had left many wondering whether they would be disenfranchised.
What was being posed to the media by several Commissioners at GECOM was that persons who did not uplift their identification cards since 2008, or as late as last year, would be removed from the list and miss the opportunity to vote in 2020.

But Justice Singh dispelled the misconception. She said that the unverified registrants will have their names published in a list, supplementing the Official List of Electors (OLE), adding that if they show up at the polling station, they would be allowed to vote. This would be, however, on the condition that they show up with some form of identification, such as a passport.

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the Commissioners aligned with it, had raised concerns about people being disenfranchised. They had also posited that there was an irony in Justice Singh making a decision to remove names from the OLE, when it was she who had ruled that it was not necessary to produce ID cards to vote.
During yesterday’s interview, Justice Singh said that the issue is not about the ID cards, but about the fact that persons didn’t collect them.

Further, she said that persons don’t have to collect the cards, but that they just have to claim their identities. It is important to note that the registrants’ names will not be removed from the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB).

Just in case those persons still want their names to be on the OLE, the Chair has made provisions for that.
The 20,000+ names will be published in the four daily newspapers very soon. They would also receive a notice, by way of mail. From the first day of publication, those persons will be given 21 days to claim their identities. If they do, their names would be moved from the supplementary list to the OLE.

The Chair was keen to note that it is not the intention of GECOM to disenfranchise anyone, despite what has been said otherwise, because she is very mindful of anybody being disenfranchised.