It is criminal to disenfranchise a voter

Dear Editor,
There is a dubious agenda on right now to disenfranchise the potential voter come polling day March 2 and it is coming from no other source than the body that should safeguard us against such activities, GECOM. This is atrocious behaviour to say the least, that an elections body can so conduct themselves or create the climate for such an atrocity to take place, this is preposterous! No person, place or thing – in this case GECOM – should cause a voter to lose that God-given right to vote; none! And for this reason, we stand united in condemning this move and demand that GECOM refrain from such action.
We, therefore, call on The international community to intervene and put an end to such lawlessness. This is a fresh assault on our democratic right to vote and choose a Government of our own choosing, nothing should hinder us from doing so. Guyana must stay in line with the democratic nations of the progressive world and this latest move caters for a backward move into the past where voters were deliberately disenfranchised. I say no hindrance should stand in the way of the voter and his or her voting rights.
From indications on the ground, it is quite clear that this election would see a massive turnout of voters, in this regard nothing, absolutely nothing, should stand in our way to cast our ballot. All systems should be put in place for a smooth and incident-free process, end of discussion! You cannot tell me that an elections commission can so arbitrarily reduce the Places of Poll in the Mon Repos district from 20 to two and not expect a disenfranchisement of the voters there. Further to our discussion, there are over 10,000 registered voters in that area waiting to cast their ballots, could you imagine what would take place if all of those persons have to be crammed into 2 Polling Stations? The answer is chaos galore. Can GECOM give us a plausible explanation for this foolishness?
The cold hard fact before us is that this is a calculated move to disenfranchise or for the most part cause confusion on election day in PPP/C strongholds. Why only known PPP/C areas were cut? Why weren’t PNC strongholds reduced?
The point is clear desperation time. Giving the green light to such illegality is outrageous!
It just defies intelligence that a Chairwoman of an Elections Commission can give consent, far more to give her stamp of approval to such criminal activity. It is criminal to disenfranchise a voter or even to permit the interference with the smooth running of the electoral process.

Respectfully,
Neil Adams