Dear Editor,
I AM no lawyer but I do have an exceptional sense of reasoning. No one can remain on the Official List of Electors (OLE) indefinitely. If that becomes the norm, then the OLE will grow to the billions for a country of less than a million. The law recognises this, hence the National Registration Act, which empowers GECOM to remove names from the OLE, once they have taken reasonable steps to identify the person(s).

Here we have 25,000 persons who have not been heard from or seen in 11 years. They have not uplifted their ID cards since 2008. No one knows if they have voted legally since 2008. They cannot be located at their registered addresses. No family member is rushing into GECOM offices to confirm that they are dead or alive. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that they have not been in contact with their relatives for 11 years, or it could very well be that they are another phantom group.

The Madam Chairwoman, not giving up, is going to publish the names, likely in the printed and digital media to provide the missing 25,000 an additional 21 days to prove that they have pulses; that they are utilising their intercostal muscles in breathing and have a pounding heartbeat. Sase Gunraj, the PPP Commissioner is arguing that it is an unlawful imposition by GECOM on the 25000. Seriously! This is not unlawful. By law, an elector needs to be registered and to be identified. If the elector has not used the required medium to be registered and identified over a prolonged period of time, then it is incumbent that GECOM takes step to identify them. That is exactly what GECOM is doing.

Gunraj also argued that an ID Card is not needed to vote. That may be the case, Junior Lawyer, but that’s not the issue here. The issue is to identify yourself after not being seen nor heard from in eleven years. That process, coincidentally, involves your uplifting your ID Card. The fella in the permanent black suit and sunglasses is conflating the issues.

Some may be arguing that the Madam Chairwoman is presuming that the 25,000 are legally declared dead in absentia. That argument is as strong as Jagdeo’s chances of winning Buxton in the next election. Don’t tell me that he is not the presidential candidate; he is surely acting like it. Anyway, legally declaring someone dead in absentia is a complex legal process involving the courts, banks, employers, social services ect. GECOM, in law, cannot do this. The fact that the Madam Chairwoman has not removed the 25,000 from the NRR is clear indication that she has not presumed that they are legally declared dead in absentia.

Many of the PPP actors, always ready to take on proxy wars, rush out to say that he will take GECOM to court. Not sure what kind of legal arguments their lawyers will use, but with my layman understanding of the law, this case will be another misguided, vexatious and wasting of court time. If the defenders of the phantom dead win, I will build a house at the bottom of the sea, take my belongings, and never to be seen or heard from again.

Regards,
Dr. Mark Devonish MBBS