APNU reiterates calls for GECOM to implement biometrics for 2025 polls

Two months after Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Vishnu Persaud had presented to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) a feasibility study on the use of electronic fingerprint biometrics for registration and voting in the next elections, a decision is yet to be taken in regard to biometrics.
The Opposition A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) has reiterated its preparedness to support the necessary stages to arrive at an outcome, including enacting constitutional and statutory changes, if necessary.
“We believe that the technical and other concerns the CEO has identified in his report do not amount to insurmountable or irresolvable issues. We stand ready to engage in all necessary discussions at the GECOM level, the parliamentary level, and/or at the inter-party level, to resolve these concerns to the satisfaction of all stakeholders, including the Guyanese people,” the party maintains.

The use of biometrics technology in Guyana, the APNU has stated, would provide more robust protection and safeguards against voter impersonation, multiple voting, and electoral manipulation. As such, it has called on GECOM to urgently advance the process to ensure the use of fingerprint biometrics becomes a reality for the 2025 elections.
The party has reminded GECOM Chairperson Claudette Singh that her role as chair must extend far beyond that of a glorified returning officer, and that she must see her role as a mission to guarantee accurate and credible elections.
Further, the APNU has accused the PPP and its appointed commissioners of running out of excuses, as that party claims the PPP’s latest effort to use the lack of time as an obstacle to implementing biometrics technology is another sham.
“We in the Opposition believe, from experiences in other countries (such as Ghana), that GECOM can ensure there is biometrics. Ghana, during COVID-19 and all the challenges it posed, implemented biometrics in under two months. It is important to note that Ghana has 17 million registered voters in comparison to Guyana’s 750,000,” APNU stated in a release on Friday.

Addressing the issue, GECOM Chairperson Justice (ret’d) Claudette Singh reported that despite the matter being brought up for discussion at several meetings, there has been no decision on the way forward.
She explained that the three Government-nominated commissioners and the three Opposition-nominated commissioners have differing positions on how to proceed. One side is pushing for there to be consultation with stakeholders before this new system of biometrics is introduced, while the other is contending that GECOM must first take a position before any consultations.

This latter position, which the GECOM Chair – who has a tie-breaking vote on the seven-member Elections Commission – agrees with, requires the Commission to first discuss the findings of the feasibility study.
Further, as the Opposition parties intensify their demands for the introduction of digitised biometrics, the General Secretary of the ruling PPP, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, had rejected these proposals, contending that the PPP would never support proposals that hinder the process, and would not fall for the traps being set by the Opposition to delay the holding of elections in 2025.
Jagdeo, who serves as Vice President in the current PPP/C Administration, has said his administration is open to expanding the authority and responsibilities of Presiding Officers ahead of the 2025 elections, to ensure greater transparency and accountability during the voting process.