GECOM sets new timeline for house to house registration
GECOM Commissioner,
Retired Justice
Claudette Singh
GECOM Commissioner, Retired Justice Claudette Singh

…over 300, 000 to be added to database

Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh moments ago took a decision to stop the ongoing House-to-House Registration exercise with effect from Saturday, August 31, 2019.

Justice Singh took the decision during a meeting with Commissioners of the Elections Commission this afternoon at GECOM’s High and Cowan Streets, Kingston Office.
In a statement, issued after the meeting, GECOM explained that the data garnered from House-to-House Registration will be merged with existing National Register of Registrants Database.

Acknowledging that the No-Confidence Motion passed in the National Assembly triggered a number of legal challenges in the local Courts, GECOM said those matters concluded with a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

“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,” the Elections Commission said.

According to the elections body, it was after considerable deliberations at the Commission on the way forward regarding the conduct of General and Regional Elections, that Justice Singh, at the Statutory Meeting, instructed that House to House Registration be discontinued. Over 290,000 persons have been registered during the exercise.

“As such, Order 25 of 2019 published in the Official Gazette should be amended for the exercise to conclude on 31st August 2019 instead of 20th October 2019,” the commission said.
It added, “Based on the ruling of the Chief Justice on 14th August 2019 that House to House Registration is not unlawful and is constitutional, the data garnered from that registration exercise must be merged with the existing National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB).”

As such, the Commission will move to an extensive Claims and Objections Exercise (C&O) before extracting the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).

“The Commission will continue to further deliberate on other matters of importance for the holding of General and Regional Elections within the shortest possible time and Secretariat will continue to implement a number of operations activities, in particular, training of polling day staff and procurement of non-sensitive materials,” GECOM said in the statement.

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