With the ongoing House-to-house registration expected to come to a halt by the end of this week, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that the data gathered thus far, will be “merged” with that of the existing National Register of Registrants Database (NRRD). This announcement is not finding favour with the People’s Progressive Party(PPP) which is contending that this action will “further contaminate” the NRRD.
The PPP, in a statement to the media, said that GECOM’s revelation of this merge leaves “more unanswered questions.”
“What data exactly is being merged with the National Register of Registrants? Is it the entire 270,000-plus persons that GECOM claimed to have registered, including persons who were re-registered? If it is only the new registrants, why embark on this process, which will take several months to be completed, when it could easily be done in a Claims and Objections period?”
The party said that the planned merger will only create headaches and will delay the holding of regional and general elections.
“The planned merger of data…Will not improve the quality or ‘credibility’ of the database – rather it will further contaminate the National Register of Registrants and cause further delays in the holding of Elections.” The party noted.
The PPP issued a nudge to GECOM; urging the elections body to move “decisively by immediately launching a Claims and Objections exercise, which will allow those who are not on the National Register of Registrants and are eligible to be properly registered.”
GECOM’s announcement and the PPP’s concern come days after legal arguments were made by the former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall to the effect that the house-to-house registration will result in the re-registration of citizens already on the NRRD.
Now that the GECOM has announced a merge of data, there is likely going to be duplication. But, GECOM has not revealed what methodological approach it will take to ensure that there are no duplications post-merge.
Nandlall had spoken of the legal ramifications of registrant duplication this week, when he made specific references to Section 11(1) of the National Registration Act, which states: “No person shall be registered in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9.”
Section 9 states: (1) The Commissioner shall establish a central register which shall consist of the originals of the registration cards of all persons registered under this Act or such copies thereof prepared in conformity with section 7(1) as may be prescribed by the Minister, on the advice of the Elections Commission.
(2) Every registrar shall establish for each registration division in his district a divisional registrar which shall consist of the duplicate registration cards of all persons registered under this Act as resident in that registration division or such other copies thereof prepared in conformity with section 7(1) as may be prescribed.
Nandlall went on to quote Section 21 of the act, which states: “Every person who procures, or induces another person to procure, his registration in more than one divisional register or more than once in any register established under section 9 shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine of five thousand dollars and to imprisonment for six months.”
The attorney-at-law said that the aforementioned provisions of the law not only prohibit duplicate registration but makes it a criminal offence and every enumerator who registers a person already registered commits a criminal offence.
