Voter information requested by GECOM publicly available
-Chief Scrutineer tells CEO
APNU+AFC’s Chief Scrutineer Carol Joseph-Smith has informed the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) that the main opposition would not be providing the requested addresses of persons who were alleged to have been out of the jurisdiction for the March 2, 2020 general and regional elections as the data is already public.
“Clearly, there was no need for the request since the information needed is on the final list of Voters which is a public document and has nothing to do with the NRR and confidentiality and the said information was provided to GECOM,” Joseph-Smith said in a letter to Chief Election Officer Vishnu Persaud.
GECOM on Wednesday wrote to Joseph-Smith requesting additional information to support its contention of voter impersonation at the March 2020 polls.
The information was submitted by the APNU+AFC during the recount of votes following the March 2020 polls.
On September 28, the GECOM Chair wrote to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the General Register Office (GRO) asking them to investigate the allegations of voter impersonation during the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The Commission has maintained that while it committed to ensuring that the concerns raised by the APNU+AFC are adequately addressed in a prioritized manner, it cannot release the personal information of those names submitted.
“…it is of crucial importance to note that, notwithstanding GECOM is the custodian of the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB) which contains personal information of all registrants, the Commission cannot release such information to the GPF owing to legal confidentiality issues that might arise,” it has noted.
Joseph-Smith has disagreed with the Commission’s contention that it cannot release the information.