The Opposition, People’s National Congress (PNCR), Alliance for Change (AFC) and Working People’s Alliance (WPA), has amplify its support for biometrics voting. In a Joint Statement the parties said “the capture of fingerprints digitally in the registration process (to enhance the quality of fingerprints available to the Commission and aid in the prevention of multiple registration) and digitised fingerprint identification at the place of poll (to prevent voter impersonation or identity theft),” are crucial to ensuring the integrity of the election process.
Given high incidents of voter impersonation reported in the 2020 General and Regional Elections and a existing bloated Voters List, skepticism is rife there is likely to be a continuity and increase in voter fraud in the next elections, constitutionally due next year.
It is generally accepted biometrics could be a good measure to capture and eliminate incidents of fraudulent voting.
The present Voters List is 706,439. Guyana’s population is approximately 780,000. The school age population is over 200,000.
Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander, back in March, argued the voting population should be approximately 580,000, suggesting the Voters List exceeds the resident voting population by no less than 126,439.
Under the Guyana’s proportional representation (PR) system, elections, including allocation of parliamentary seats, can be won or lost by one vote.
Below is the full statement issued by the joint opposition:
JOINT OPPOSITION (PNCR/APNU, AFC, and WPA) STATEMENT ON THE USE OF BIOMETRICS AT ELECTIONS
The Joint Opposition (JO) has noted that GECOM, at its meeting on Tuesday, 5th November, 2024, commenced the discussion on the feasibility study on utilizing biometrics technology in elections that was prepared by its CEO, Vishnu Persaud, on the recommendation of GECOM Commissioner Vincent Alexander.
That the subject of biometrics has remained on the agenda of GECOM, despite sustained efforts at excluding it, is testimony to the will and persistence of the opposition parties and their commissioners. The submission and discussion of the CEO’s report on biometrics, though welcomed, constitute only a small step towards the goal of producing a clean voter list and introducing fingerprint biometrics as part of the voting process for the next and future General, Regional and Local Government elections.
Let us re-emphasize that the Joint Opposition supports the full implementation of biometrics throughout the election process: that is, the capture of fingerprints digitally in the registration process (to enhance the quality of fingerprints available to the Commission and aid in the prevention of multiple registration) and digitized fingerprint identification at the place of poll (to prevent voter impersonation or identity theft).
We express our preparedness to lend support to all the necessary stages to arrive at this outcome, including enacting constitutional and statutory changes, if necessary. We believe that the technical and other concerns the CEO has identified in his report do not amount to insurmountable or irresolvable issues. We stand ready to engage in all necessary discussions at the GECOM level, the parliamentary level, and/or at the inter-party level to resolve these concerns to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, including the Guyanese people.
We recognise and support GECOM’s position that stakeholder involvement should be integral to the process. In that regard, we call upon the Commission to promptly engage these stakeholders before finalizing its internal discussions on the way forward.
The Joint Opposition wishes to express our support for our commissioners and remain steadfast in pursuing the goal of free, fair, credible, and efficient elections in Guyana.
