GEORGETOWN, GUYANA – Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioner Vincent Alexander has criticised what he described as the Commission’s continued refusal to take legally available steps to ensure the voters’ list is free of names belonging to deceased persons.
In a letter to the media, Alexander recalled attending a recent meeting between GECOM officials and party agents where the issue of dead persons still being listed was raised. He said an example was given of someone who had died 13 years ago, with the death already registered at the General Register Office (GRO).
According to Alexander, the Deputy Chief Elections Officer responded by asking whether the opportunity had been taken to have that name removed during the Claims and Objections period and then referred the matter back to the Commission. Alexander argued that this was a contradiction, since the Commission itself had previously voted against using the legal provisions available to it for such removals.
He explained that by majority vote, the Commission had refused to use reports from the Commissioner of Police and the Chief Medical Officer—reports which the law allows to be used as the basis for deleting names of deceased persons from the voters’ list. Yet, when faced with a direct question on the matter, Alexander said the official chose to deflect responsibility back to the same Commission that had already blocked the measure.
“This is but one example of GECOM’s stoic refusal to take actions to ensure that every measure is taken to meet the conditions for a free and fair election,” Alexander wrote, adding that the Commission continues to “march on to prepare for and guarantee” free and fair elections while ignoring actions that could strengthen credibility.
