A SECOND set of draft proposed amendments of the Representation of the People Act (RoPA), one of the pieces of legislation which governs elections in Guyana, will be released for consultation once finalised.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, S.C., while making this disclosure said that these amendments will deal with the registration of voters, specifically the National Registration Act.

“There is a second set of amendments that will bear the same mould and will enjoy the same attributes and that is [sic] those dealing with registration of electors where we will clarify the registration system,” Nandlall said, while appearing on a National Communications Network (NCN) television programme last week.

“We will try to get a system in place that will remove dead people effectively from the list, so that the issue of zombie voters will not arise with the frequency that it is arising. We will also ensure that there is clarity when it comes to registration and the system that will be used for the registration process,” he noted.

The Attorney General mentioned that the draft proposed amendments in relation to registration may be available to the public for review by next week. However, he did not comment on what the initial proposed amendments will look like.

The draft proposed electoral amendments are in keeping with the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) commitment to electoral reform following the five months of shenanigans which followed the March 2, 2020, General and Regional Elections and saw a number of allegations of electoral fraud being made against the then APNU+AFC and senior GECOM officials.

Currently, the first set of draft proposed amendments of the RoPA, an Act to make provision for the election of members of the National Assembly under a system of Proportional Representation and for purposes connected therewith, are out for consultation.

The proposed amendments include dividing District Four into four sub-districts to facilitate easier tabulation of results; hefty fines and prison time for persons caught tampering with the elections and uploading the Statements of Poll online as they are made available.

The Attorney General emphasised that great care and circumspection were employed when drafting the proposed amendments to ensure that the amended sections are not intended or designed to give any political party an electoral advantage, but only to make the electoral machinery stronger.

The amendments are not final, and the government has been encouraging all citizens to peruse the draft proposed amendments and offer feedback, which will help to shape the final law.