DIRECTOR of State, Joseph Harmon cautioned Guyanese not to fear the early end of house-to-house registration as “every Guyanese will get a chance to register”, as he spoke to concerned residents at a government outreach at the La Retraite Primary School on the West Bank of Demerara on Wednesday.

“Every Guyanese person will have an opportunity to get their names on the list,” Harmon declared,
“By the 31 August this phase of registration process will be brought to an end, so yes we have between now and 31 August to ensure persons get registered. Some persons have problems with source documents, so we will have to expedite those documents so persons can be registered.”

Harmon called on businesses to be considerate of the situation and allow employees time to ensure they are registered.

At its statutory meeting last Tuesday, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) took a decision to shorten the period initially designated for the conducting of house-to-house registration.

The exercise, which commenced on July, 20, 2019, was slated to be officially completed on October 20, 2019. However, in a statement on Tuesday, GECOM said the exercise will come to a close on August 31.

Approximately 300,000 persons have been registered to date in the house-to-house registration exercise.

GECOM said information from the house-to-house registration will be merged with the old National Register of Registrants (NRR) database, and an extensive Claims and Objections (C&O) period will be held in order to generate a credible Official List of Electors (OLE).
“In our view it is one of the safest ways of ensuring you have a list of electors reflective of the population of Guyana,” Harmon explained.

The APNU/AFC government has noted its position that house-to-house registration was necessary for the creation of a credible OLE. However, the opposition, the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) has continuously called for the immediate cancellation of house-to-house registration and for the old list to be used, even though the list expired in April, 2019.

” I believe what the Commission is now trying to do is find common ground between the two positions so we can have an OLE that is credible. The APNU/AFC, and by their own admission now the PPP, know that list is flawed and needs to be corrected,” Harmon pointed out.

“The NRR [National Register of Registrants] is a list which comprises everyone who is 14 years and above. What this order from GECOM has done, it has said we are going to look at the records that have been collected and then allow an extended period of claims and objections. So those who have not registered will have a second opportunity to get registered.”

Despite the early close of the house-to-house registration, PPP/C was still not pleased. The PPP issued a statement conceding that the existing voters list was contaminated, stating that merging it with the house to house data would “further contaminate it”.
GECOM decided to use the data from house-to-house following a ruling by the Chief Justice(ag.) Roxane George that the exercise was completely legal.

“In so far as the house-to-house is concerned, the statement said house-to-house is legal. Many of us picketed for house-to-house registration because we were convinced, that that OLE was not clean,” Harmon said.

In the August 14 High Court judgement, the acting Chief Justice ruled that the on-going house-to-house registration, being undertaken by GECOM, was within the confines of the Constitution and was therefore legal. Justice George ruled that the constitution and the laws of Guyana provide for the conduct of house-to-house registration as a form of verification – a position that was argued by both the government and GECOM.
The countrywide house-to-house registration exercise was conducted in keeping with a decision of GECOM on February 19, 2019, and in accordance with Order No. 25 of 2019 dated June 11, 2019.

GECOM said it has an obligation to produce a credible OLE in the first instance, and ultimately credible elections within the shortest possible time.