…GECOM commissioners roast PPP on false claims on use of private residences as polling stations
…Carter Centre had recommended reduction in use of such facilities
By Lisa Hamilton
AN attempt by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to spark public confusion by making a false claim that private residences will no longer be used as polling stations on polling day was thwarted by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on Tuesday.
PPP/C Executive and Former Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall was chastised for making the false claim on his Facebook page on Monday, which received over 200 shares by possible party supporters.
The misinformation was also picked up and spread by some media houses which failed to verify Nandlall’s claims.
“GECOM has made a decision to only use public buildings as polling stations,” Nandlall said in the public post.
“It will cause confusion, chaos, tremendous hardship and inconvenience on polling day, because some communities which have thousands of voters, only have one or two public buildings, whilst others have many public buildings. This inequitable distribution of polling places is discriminatory in so far as it gives electorates in certain communities’ easier access to voting places than others.”
He went as far as to draw his claim to the attention of international observer missions, stating that the now debunked non-use of private residences “amounts to [voter] suppression.”
However, coming out of the commission’s statutory meeting on Tuesday, both government-nominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander and opposition-nominated Commissioner Sase Gunraj stated that the information is false.
“It’s mischievous,” Alexander said. “All private residences have not been removed. The fact of the matter is that if you can’t find a public place, then you don’t have an option [but to use private residences].”
Meanwhile, Gunraj said: “Private residences are being used. Private residences are still being used. We have not been able to eliminate it totally. What I am saying is the use of private residences ought not to be eliminated totally if a proper alternative is not available.”
While GECOM believes, in principle, that private residences ought not to be used, there are many unavoidable cases.
USE OF PRIVATE RESIDENCES
Earlier in the month, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield had announced that there would be 2,352 polling stations, inclusive of 131 private residences, of which 91 of the private residences are in Region Four.
However, moving towards the ideal, GECOM is making a special effort to reduce the number of private residences used as polling places.
The commission has made the list of private-residence polling places available to political parties and they have been using their own intelligence to highlight residences they may have an issue with due to real or perceived political affiliation.
Alexander said that already, the number of private residences have been “reduced significantly,” when compared to past numbers of several hundreds.
The reduction remains important as Guyana has been affected in the past by the violent retaliation of citizens on Elections Day, who believed that a ballot box at a private residence was being compromised.
In May 2015, following the close of polls, civil unrest flared in ‘C’ Field, Sophia with the burning of vehicles outside the home of Pastor, Narine Khublall — a staunch PPP/C supporter — when reports were spread that he was storing ballot boxes on his premises.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF), Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) were called to the scene to calm the high emotions of electors who felt that their democratic right was being violated.
The 2015 edition of the Guyana Chronicle reported that the “staunch PPP/C supporter” said that over the 18 years he lived in the community he’d never had a dispute with any of his neighbours over his or their political affiliation.
“During the time I lived there for 18 years my neighbours and I, we had a very good relationship,” said Pastor Khublall.
When Khublall and another resident were a year later called before the court for discharging several rounds of ammunition in the air from unlicensed firearms on the 2015 Election Day, they were represented by Nandlall and former Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand.
On May 27, 2015 in an Elections Observer Mission report, the Carter Center — which has observed Guyana’s elections on several occasions —- urged the commission to make a special effort to reduce the number of private residences being used as polling stations.
“On May 11, elections were conducted in 2,299 polling stations across the country, with a maximum of 400 voters per polling station. Because of the lack of state establishments in some areas, 166 (or seven per cent) of these stations were located in private buildings and residences. While the establishment of polling stations on private property did not seem to negatively influence public confidence in the electoral process, The Carter Center recommends that GECOM take steps in future elections to ensure that citizens can cast their ballots in a neutral environment free from intimidation,” the report stated.
POLLING STATIONS CONCENTRATION
However, while in support of scrutiny of the list of private residences for possible political affiliation, the opposition-nominated commissioners are also complaining about possible overcrowding of polling stations.
Commissioner Gunraj claimed that the removal will result in the “concentration of polling stations” in some areas, whereby there are several polling stations at one polling place.
GECOM does not intend to have the average number of electors per polling station go beyond 450. Gunraj said that the commission has committed to looking into the concern.
Section 6 (4) of the Representation of the People Act, (Cap 1:03) provides that, “Where the chief elections officer is satisfied that it is impracticable to appoint a polling place within any division or any part thereof, he may appoint some other place in any other division within the same district as a polling place at which electors of the first-mentioned division or part thereof shall be entitled to vote.”
On this basis, Alexander said: “Unless the secretariat determines that it would be inconvenient to use those public buildings, we shall retain those public buildings…GECOM has to have a standard operation. It cannot discriminate in terms of how you treat one set of people as opposed to how you treat another set of people.”
Even with the issues highlighted, Alexander said that “the entire spectrum” of polling places has not been affected and therefore the commission remains on track for the coming elections.
Commissioner Gunraj said: “All of these issues, whatever issues, they have to be resolved for the holding of elections and, as far as I can see and the assurances that have been provided to us by the CEO, is that whatever issues that have been raised will be resolved in a timely manner.”
With E-Day only 12 days away, it is hoped that this specific matter will be resolved in one week’s time; any changes made will be made available to the public.
