Georgetown: Government Chief Whip, Amna Ally said that the Coalition Administration wants the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to undertake house-to-house registration.
If GECOM is to pursue the Coalition’s request, it could likely delay the holding of Local Government Elections (LGE) which is scheduled to be held before the end of the year.
“This not the time for us to fiddle or attempt to confuse,” Ally stated on Friday.
Ally, the PNCR General Secretary, was responding to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) which welcomed the recent move by GECOM and various stakeholders who are engaged in a process to update and sanitise the List of Registered Electors.
“It is my recommendation for GECOM to now have a ‘house to house’ registration so that they can bring home the bacon for the PPP,” Ally stated.
According to the PPP, the removal of names of persons who have died, from the List of Registered Electors is a responsibility of GECOM and is guided by strict laws and rules. Only on the basis of a certified list of persons who have died, issued by the GRO, can GECOM remove a person’s name.
One of the tasks undertaken by GECOM and stakeholders is to cleanse the list of deceased persons, based upon information generated by the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), which is responsible for the issuance of Certificates of Death.
“Like any stakeholder, we believe in having a sanitized and realistic list of electors. It seems to me that the Opposition Leader continues to live in the past and reminisces of his ungodly acts in the electoral process,” Ally noted.
The PPP stated that names cannot be removed from the list on the ground that persons are dead, unless confirmation is received from the GRO.
According to the PPP, GECOM issued five lists of Persons who have died between December 2015, and March 2016. One of the lists is of persons who have died, but whose names are not on the List of Registered Electors.
The PPP said it conducted a review of the list and to their surprise, discovered a significant number of names, which are in fact on the List of Registered Electors.
“This list is, therefore, not accurate. As a result, the names of deceased persons will continue to be on the List of Registered Electors. In the circumstances, the PPP calls upon GECOM to exercise greater care and due diligence in their attempts to sanitise the list.
We will continue to partner with GECOM and other stakeholders, in a concerted effort, to produce a List of Registered Electors that is accurate and whose integrity can withstand objective scrutiny,” the PPP stated.
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