More training for polling agents if no digital biometrics – WPA

Last Updated on Monday, 18 November 2024, 23:39 by Writer

The Working People’s Alliance (WPA) on Monday said if the opposition fails to get digital biometric registration and verification of voters or a clean voters list for next year’s general and regional elections, the only option left is to train its polling agents.

“The parties obviously will engage in more training of its agents and that’s the most they can do,” WPA Co-Leader and presidential candidate, Professor David Hinds told his party’s weekly news conference.

He denied that all of the opposition agents in the 2020 elections were not alert, citing alleged multiple voting by a man at a polling place at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, and the alleged sharing of identification cards at Strathspey, another East Coast Demerara village. “I’m prepared to go to court and to give testimony in that matter,” he said.

Professor Hinds seemed cautiously optimistic that public pressure was gradually building up to coerce the authorities to introduce digital biometric registration and verification of voters.

The WPA, Alliance For Change and the People’s National Congress Reform have been demanding fresh house-to-house registration to remove the names of migrants and deceased persons. The parliamentary opposition has even gone as far as pledging to support constitutional and legislative amendments to allow for the use of digital fingerprinting and verification at polling places.

The WPA also subscribes to the wider opposition claims of voter impersonation and voter fraud. Reference was also made to Guyana Police Force immigration records that had been provided to the Guyana Elections Commission showing that 173 of 205 persons were not in Guyana on election day.