THIS year’s Local Government Elections (LGEs) were held last week. By Tuesday, when this column was written, the results were still being made public. I saw several persons on social media comment about the delays in releasing the results. It made me think about the potential for us to conduct these elections electronically in the future.

So first, let me acknowledge that this year, there were some improvements that I had not seen before (for emphasis, that doesn’t mean that some or all of these measures weren’t in place before). GECOM’s website had a quick and simple way for voters to find their polling station.

On the website’s homepage, that option could have been selected and then, a voter would have to input his national identification (ID) number or his full name and date of birth to find out exactly which polling station to visit. I thought this was particularly useful because it allows voters to easily confirm that they are registered voters and where they need to go to vote from a device as accessible as a cell phone, eliminating the need to visit polling stations and search for names on the list of voters posted there.

Aside from this tool, GECOM’s website had the register of voters on its website as well, which was sorted by Local Authority Area. With these, individuals could check for their names and the names of other people who live in their constituencies. Other useful information, like the offices of the Returning Officers and maps of the municipalities, were also on GECOM’s website and could have been easily accessible. Afterwards, the results of this year’s elections were uploaded to that same site.

I thought these features and uploads on the Commission’s website were really helpful. As someone who did not know much about Local Government Elections, including where I would be going to vote, accessing that information was quite simple. And I think this signals a growing integration of digital and electronic measures in our elections systems.

Guyana still relies on the traditional, paper-based mechanism of voting. Voters choose their candidates on the ballots and then deposit those documents into large containers. Later, those ballots are opened and tallied to determine the election results. As we saw last week, the tabulation and verification of the results take a lot of time in this manner. So many people have called for the introduction of electronic voting in Guyana, as is being done in several other countries. India, which undertakes the world’s largest elections because of its population size, already offered to help Guyana transition to electronic voting; that offer was made known by the Indian High Commission in Georgetown, according to a January 2022 report published in the Guyana Chronicle newspaper.

And more electronic means of voting is something the larger political parties have considered and even asked for. Opposition-nominated Commissioners on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) asked for biometric voting. Guyana’s Vice President, who is the General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo reportedly said he was not opposed to such a system though he was wary of it being misused and preventing people from exercising their constitutional right to vote. For context, a biometric system uses physical characteristics such as fingerprints to help identify people. The opposition-nominated commissioners believe this will help prevent voter impersonation and/or fraud.

The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), in a report, said electronic voting is viewed as a tool that can help to make the electoral process more convenient, efficient, and trustworthy. It also posited that it can reduce the number of spoiled ballots with warning systems in place and potentially help increase voter turnout.

The International IDEA is an intergovernmental organisation that works to support and strengthen democratic institutions and processes around the world.

It, however, acknowledged some weaknesses associated with electronic voting. That includes the digital manipulation of the results if adequate security systems are not in place and in many places, a possible conflict with laws (that is, where the laws do not cater for electronic voting). It was also noted that there are increased costs to set up and run elections electronically. Undoubtedly, these factors should be considered before Guyana implements an electronic voting system.

If you would like to connect with me to discuss this column or any of my previous work, feel free to email me at vish14ragobeer@gmail.com.