Residency for regional council elections does not apply- Attorney General

Last Updated on Saturday, 28 December 2024, 18:10 by Writer

Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Saturday said Guyana’s constitutional requirement for residency of electors to elect members of a regional democratic council (RDC) does not mean that residency is a requirement for registration.

Referring to a case filed by opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph requesting a High Court order for the addresses of electors to be verified, Mr Nandlall said Article 73(1) of the Constitution for the election of the 10 regional councillors do not collide with Article 59 and Article 159.

“I don’t see a conflict between the two,” he told a news conference.

Article 73(1) states that a “member of a Regional Democratic Council shall be elected by persons residing in the region and registered as electors for the purpose of Article 159”.

Assuming there is a conflict, the Attorney General argued that articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution governing registration and voting are dominant to the others. “Every other article will have to bend and bow to the letter and spirit of those two Articles,” he said.

Article 59 states that, “Subject to the provisions of Article 159, every person may vote at an election if he is of the age of 18 years and upwards and is either a citizen of Guyana or a Commonwealth citizen resident or domiciled in Guyana”. Article 159 states that no person shall vote at an election unless he is registered as an elector if by the qualifying date is 18 years and older, is a citizen of Guyana, is a Commonwealth citizen who is not a citizen of Guyana and who is domiciled and residing in Guyana for one year immediately before the qualifying date and satisfies such other qualifications as may be prescribed by or under any law.

Article 159 further states that no one is qualified to be registered if on the qualifying date for the compilation or revision of a list of electors is certified to be insane or otherwise adjudged to be of unsound mind under any Guyanese law; if five or less years before the qualifying date as may be prescribed by Parliament, he has been convicted by a court of any offence connected with elections that is so prescribed or has been reported guilty of such an offence by the High Court in proceedings under Article 163: That Article also says Parliament may empower the court to exempt a person from disqualification for registration on account of such a conviction or report if the court deems it just so to do. In this article “the qualifying date” means such date as may be appointed by or under an Act of Parliament as the date with reference to which a register of electors shall be compiled or revised.

Against that background, the Attorney General emphasised that “if you have two provisions of the Constitution that deals exclusively with qualifications for registration and qualification for elector and then you have a provision that is ancillary but has residency in it. How would you reconcile that? You have to take the language letter and spirit of the dominant provision.”

Mr Nandlall had previously stated that under the amended National Registration Act, all that must be provided is an address. He told Demerara Waves Online News that the Claims and Objections period can resolve issues about those who do not reside at addresses given but nothing can be done to remove them from the list of electors.

PNCR member Smith-Joseph says in her affidavit that without the interpretation of the court and the making of a declaration by the court, the integrity of the National Register of Registrants may be questionable, inaccurate and not credible, that without the interpretation of the court and the making of a declaration by the court, the integrity of General and Regional Elections and Local Government Elections and their results will be questionable, inaccurate and not credible.

Ms Smith-Joseph said that at least three issues have since presented as a result of the current practice—some of the addresses have on them no buildings, or dilapidated or abandoned houses in which no one lives or have lived for years; the addresses exist but no one at the address knows the Applicant/Registrant; the address is generic, for example it may be just the name of the village or town area.