Govt proposes system to remove dead people’s names from voters’ list

Last Updated on Friday, 29 April 2022, 16:17 by Denis Chabrol

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Friday announced that governments wants the Representation of the People Act to provide for the compulsory sharing of the names of dead persons with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

He told a news conference that the legislation would be amended to allow for the General Registrar to dispatch those names to the Chief Election Officer.

According to the Vice President, the law would also allow for the sharing of the list of deceased persons with political parties and for them to be published in the newspapers.

Mr. Jagdeo noted that residing in Guyana is not a requirement for being on the national database of registrants and the voters lists.

Disputing claims by the opposition People’s National Congress Reform-led coalition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change that there were massive irregularities in the 2020 General and regional elections, Mr Jagdeo said there was no major difference in the turnout between the 2015 and 2020 polls.

He said the coalition has not provided any submissions on the draft amended Representation of the People Act but perhaps would make known its position during debate in the National Assembly.

Consultations, he added, would be held with GECOM and the non-governmental Electoral Reform Group which have submitted observations on the draft Representation of the People Act.