DEPUTY Chief Elections Officer (DECO) Mr. Vishnu Persaud, responding to a query from the Guyana Chronicle, has confirmed that of the three parliamentary political parties, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) is the only party that has raised concerns with the Preliminary List of Electors.

“As at this time, I am not aware of other parties expressing concerns about the PLE,” he said.

The ruling party wrote the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) last Thursday, August 14, highlighting some of the concerns it has with the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE). One of those concerns has to do with the steep surge in names, amounting to over 78,000 new registrants on the PLE when, traditionally, new registrants between elections amount to approximately 11,000.

In a statement issued on Monday, the PPP said, “The letter was sent to GECOM last Thursday, August 14, after one of our field operatives found eighteen (18) persons on the PLE with the same Georgetown address. At the said address, they found one of the eighteen people with a prepared list of the eighteen that were listed.”

Noting that it found this development very unusual, the PPP added: “While it may be possible that these eighteen persons are living at that address, we call on GECOM to physically verify these persons’ existence and their place of residence. The PPP has been submitting irregularities to GECOM on an ongoing basis, rather than wait until the Claims and Objections period concludes, since this period lasts for only 28 days, and we are only ten (10) days away from its conclusion.”

The DCEO noted that it is within the right of any political party to express concerns pertaining to any aspect of GECOM’s work, and that, correspondingly, it is GECOM’s responsibility to respond appropriately.

Notwithstanding this position, he stressed that GECOM stands by the accuracy of the PLE, considering the names on the PLE were extracted from the accurate National Register of Registrants (NRR).

“The Guyana Elections Commission is convinced that every person on the National Register of Registrants, from which the names for the PLE are taken, is a bona fide registrant. Accordingly, we stand by the accuracy of the PLE,” Persaud said.

Persaud pointed out that in the 2008 house-to-house registration, persons were registered at their homes with the participation of scrutineers from the governing and joint opposition political parties in Parliament. Thereafter, scrutineers were involved in the registration of persons in each consecutive cycle of Continuous Registration.

Further, he pointed out that each registration transaction goes through a series of checks before being accepted and committed to the National Register of Registrants.

Persaud said that if any political party is dissatisfied with the Official List of Electors to be produced after the Claims and Objections period is over, GECOM would be more than willing to address those concerns to the satisfaction of all concerned.
Written By Vanessa Narine