Dear Editor,
PRESIDENT, Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali assented to the National Registration (Amendment) Act No. 26 of 2022, on December 13, 2022.

The essentials of objective improvements attained via the changes, pave the way for an enhanced, transparent and facilitative mechanism to support and provide GECOM with an improved, time-responsive, and accountability framework to support readiness for the various elections to be held under its mandate.

After widespread national consultations engaging various representative stakeholders, the sweeping objective amendments to the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08, were recommended, revised debated, and advanced as appropriate. Fixed periods for voter registration, regular removal of deceased persons from the Official List of Electors, and cyclic issuance of national Identification Cards are among the significant amendments to the National Registration Act (NRA).

GECOM is now mandated to facilitate registration transactions throughout the year with two small breaks, during which the publication and finalization of a valid Official List of Electors (OLE) will be facilitated.

Significantly, any eligible person can now approach the established GECOM offices for continuous registration of voters to be done in two periods, from January to May, with the qualifying date being June 30, and from July to November, with the qualifying date being December 31, provided that they will be 14 years and older at the qualifying dates.

Persons are reminded that they must be Guyanese citizens by birth, naturalization, or a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, to apply for registration, providing that they were never registered. Consequently, qualifying persons can now update their records and make sure that all their information is correct concerning the various transactions that legally support voting at the Local Authority Area where they are living.

Hence, all name changes (because of marriage), date of birth, occupation, or updating their addresses, can now be done during the ongoing Continuous Registration almost all year round.
The PPP/C government must be commended for putting better systems in place, so that elections and (by-elections) can be held when necessary.

There is also an updated position to deal with issues relating to the names of deceased people being on the list. New sections 8A, 8B, and 8C are inserted concerning the cancellation of the registration of persons who are dead. It requires the Registrar General of Births and Deaths to send to GECOM once every month, a list of all persons 14 years and older, whose deaths were registered in the preceding month.

Further, supportive reconciling positions are mandated by the health departments and the Commissioner of Police, regarding persons who have died, which reflects a gap position with the report from the Registrar General of Births and Deaths.

With this process now in place, GECOM will be able to have a short period of Claims and Objections; proceed with the address of any necessary corrections and after cross-matching, publish a supplementary list.

Hence, GECOM will be ready to communicate its readiness for the holding of Local Government Elections to the Minister of Local Government, to facilitate the necessary announcements of the dates for the due LGEs.

All GECOM permanent offices around the country are fully staffed and equipped to facilitate all the necessary transactions during this period of Continuous Registration. Further, it must be noted that the main political parties have appointed scrutineers in all areas, so that GECOM can conduct verification of all transactions using a collective approach and this togetherness will likely guarantee a successful process.

Importantly, under the amended act, references to residency and house-to-house registration are removed. Instead, GECOM will be responsible for the establishment of offices in registration districts, at which registration officers will receive registration applications from eligible persons with addresses in that district.

It is also noteworthy that stricter penalties have also been imposed for breaches in provisions of the act, which ought to be a deterrent for those who may wish to consider conflicting clandestine activities.

Notably, the Act makes provision for GECOM officers and party scrutineers to visit persons unable to attend registration offices due to physical incapacity. Under new subsection (4A), a registration officer, with the approval of the GECOM commissioner, may visit the address of the person to accept his or her application for registration.

The updated positions leave no room for the flimsy excuses commonly and conveniently projected by the Opposition and their cohorts. For the upcoming LGEs, GECOM will have to establish Electoral Registrar Offices in every Local Authority Area during the Claims and Objections process. This will further enhance and enable GECOM to produce the best possible List for the LGEs.
Let us have LGEs now!

Yours respectfully,
Neil Kumar.