Only High Court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine whether an election has been lawfully conducted

Dear Editor,
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is again faced with the challenge of frequently-repeated disinformation being peddled in the public domain by prominent political stakeholders and activists using various platforms.
The most recent case of disinformation involves Dr David Hinds of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) using his Politics 101 talk show on Monday 25th November, 2024 to accuse the GECOM Chairman of ‘cover up of fraud.’
During the programme, while referencing allegations of voter impersonation that surfaced during the National Recount exercise in 2020, Dr. Hinds specifically accused GECOM Chairman Justice Claudette Singh of “declaring an election with knowledge of the potential breach of the law”, and voting against an internal review of the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
In this regard, while GECOM has continually and categorically clarified that, in accordance with the Constitution, the Commission does not have the authority to validate any election, there is a relentless effort by a few individuals with malicious intention, who continue to repeat such a false narrative.
As the agency responsible for conducting elections in Guyana, it is mandatory for GECOM to ensure that the public is always accurately guided insofar as statutory provisions are concerned. It is therefore against this backdrop that the Commission takes opportunity to again dispel the disinformation being spewed in the public.
Article 163 (1) (b) (i) of the Constitution, the supreme law of the land, provides that the High Court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to determine any question, either generally or in any particular place, in regard to whether an election has been lawfully conducted; or whether the results thereof have been, or may have been, affected by any unlawful act or omission.
It is of crucial importance to note that, notwithstanding GECOM having received copies of documents associated with the alleged voter impersonation, the Commission could not have investigated this issue, since, according
to Article 163 (1) (b) of the Constitution, the only method by which such a matter could be ventilated is specifically by way of an election petition.
In view of the foregoing Article of the Constitution, there is absolutely no way that GECOM should be accused of ‘cover up of fraud’, as is the case in point.
Accordingly, GECOM encourages all stakeholders to ensure that they conduct thorough legal research before publishing false information, since this type of misinformation and disinformation has potential to cause mistrust and lack of confidence in the Commission, and harm its officials.

Public Relations
Officer
Guyana Elections
Commission