Former AG blasts Govt for distorting statements from GECOM Chair

…says Claudette Singh never exhibited pro-H2H stance

Contrary to claims by Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo, Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh never exhibited a pro- House-to-House (H2H) Registration stance. This is according to former Attorney General Anil Nandlall.

On Friday last, Justice Singh spoke at the opening ceremony of two GECOM registration offices at Corriverton and Whim, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne). She was quoted in sections of the media as stating “in order to vote you must be registered … that is your first task; you must be registered before you exercise your constitutional right to vote”.
“These statements were swiftly pounced upon by the Government propagandists and twisted to suit their political agenda, to contend that Justice Singh is supportive of House-to-House Registration,” Nandlall said in a statement.
“The truth is that there is nothing in those statements which, expressly, or by implication, supports such warped contention. But then again, there is hardly a statement, a provision of the law, or the Constitution, or a court ruling, which the Government and its acolytes have interpreted correctly, in recent times.”

Nevertheless, Prime Minister Nagamootoo wrote in his weekly column, “My Turn”, that “the new Chairman of GECOM, Madam Justice Claudette Singh, seemed to be supporting the commission’s campaign. She was quoted (as) saying last Friday that “(I)n order to vote, you must be registered. That is your first task; you must be registered before you exercise your constitutional right to vote.”
“Justice Singh was simply stating the correct legal and constitutional position in relation to voting. What the Prime Minister, and those who blindly follow him in this hopeless effort to distort, fails to realise is that Justice Singh was speaking at the opening of two centres established for the purpose of registration,” Nandlall noted.
According to Nandlall, these centres were established under the Continuous Cycle of Registration process catered for under the National Registration Act. As such, Nandlall explained that the centres have nothing to do with House-to-House Registration, since, as the name suggests, H2H was done on a “House-to-House” basis.
GECOM is currently undertaking H2H registration, which was last conducted in 2008, with enumerators going in teams of two to three, door to door in various communities across Guyana. The enumerators will present forms to registrants to fill up, as well as take fingerprints and pictures.
It is understood that these enumerators work from 15:30h to 18:30h during the week and from 09:00h to 16:00h on weekends and holidays. The exercise is intended to produce a new National Register of Registrants Database and Official List of Electors.
This means that everyone, regardless of whether they were registered before or not, must register anew at their place of residence between July 20 and October of this year. However, a no-confidence motion was passed against the Government since December 21 of last year, necessitating elections in three months.
In addition, the requirement for proof of residency has alarmed overseas-based Guyanese, to the point where a court case was filed earlier this year by an overseas-based Guyanese against H2H Registration, on the basis that it would disenfranchise her.
That case was later withdrawn out of the belief that GECOM would adhere to the recent Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) rulings, which reiterated the need for elections in three months.
Currently, Attorney and social commentator Christopher Ram has a case before the High Court in which he is seeking an injunction against the exercise. Acting Chief Justice Roxane George is expected to rule on the case on August 14.
Previously, Justice George had denied Ram’s application for an interim conservatory order to block GECOM from continuing its H2H exercise that began on July 20. Subsequently, GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield through Trinidadian lawyer Stanley Marcus had sought the Chief Justice’s recusal, on the grounds of a statement she caused her office to send out which they contended was biased.