Home News PPP/C will not fall for electoral traps being set by APNU, AFC...
…says party supports electoral changes that will help, not hinder, voting
While the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) is all for proposals that will improve transparency and strengthen the election system, the party will never support proposals that hinder the process and will not fall for the traps being set by the opposition that, if sprung, will do just that.
This was the position taken by PPP/C General Secretary, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, who was responding to agitation from the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) for biometrics to be implemented at polling stations for the next General and Regional elections.
“I don’t have an objection to any system, biometrics or not, that will seek to ensure that people who vote are the people eligible to vote. And no impersonation. The PPP will never be opposed to anything of that nature. I’ve spoken many times about cleaning up the list. I said it here. I said don’t wait to get these dead people off.”
“Go back to maybe 10, 15 years and get the entire list from the GRO. And publish it in the newspapers and send it to the political parties. If you have 30,000 or 40,000 dead people on the list. We can do that now. We’re in favor of this,” Jagdeo said during a press conference on Thursday.
As a matter of fact, Jagdeo noted that the PPP is still in favor of a system that would strengthen the voting system, rather than humbug voting. According to Jagdeo, the APNU/AFC has a track record of changing or advocating for changes at the polling station, that will only make voting that much more difficult for persons and even disenfranchise them.
“I explained before that the enhanced biometrics is not to shut out people from the polling place, but to ensure at the polling place, we don’t have people voting who shouldn’t vote. And that’s why I said we should explore the possibility. Their enhanced biometrics is to shut down and start off from scratch. That’s what they’re looking at.”
“If you have an iris scan in the polling place, you’ll never get to vote with APNU. They will create a million reasons for you not to vote at the polling place. The same things they brought to the recount. They’re just looking for confusion in the future. And we’re not going to give them an opportunity for confusion. We will not act unconstitutionally. You cannot remove people’s names from the voters list for residency reasons.”
Persons of integrity
That being said, Jagdeo did note that the current polling station system is an effective one, with strong checks and balances. As a matter of fact, Jagdeo pointed out that APNU/AFC once were in support of it and had professed confidence in the system before the results from the March 2, 2020 election were counted and it became apparent, they had lost. Jagdeo noted that the downfall of the last election was not in the system, but rather the integrity of those manning it.
“The system is robust enough to prevent them (illegal use of an overseas person’s name) voting. And they (opposition) must get strong polling agents, like we had in the past, to prevent that happening. Each polling agent must have the names of the people, the folios so they can see the photos, and everything else. To see that they don’t vote. A robust system. It worked in the past. Nobody complained about that until the recount.”
Jagdeo also noted that the amendments the PPP/C passed in 2022 to the Representation of the People’s Act (ROPA) further bolstered the electoral process by closing various loopholes that were exploited by alleged riggers back in 2020.
“The new law fixes all of these issues. Several months before the elections, a manual has to be produced by GECOM that would outline the instructions and responsibilities to all the GECOM officials. It will outline the role and responsibility of polling agents,” Jagdeo explained.
“It will say which document has to go in the box and which has to be submitted directly. Which belong to the presiding officer and polling agents. Every procedure. So, the Chief Election Officer cannot change instructions after. That document will then be published in the newspapers. Shared with political parties. And people will be trained.”
Biometrics
On Thursday also, the joint opposition, APNU and AFC in a statement had reiterated their call for biometrics to be implemented. The statement came following reports that GECOM Chief Elections Officer (CEO) had done a feasibility study that had determined biometrics could cost as much as US$20 Million to implement.
“Let us re-emphasize that the Joint Opposition supports the full implementation of biometrics throughout the election process: that is, the capture of fingerprints digitally in the registration process (to enhance the quality of fingerprints available to the Commission and aid in the prevention of multiple registration) and digitized fingerprint identification at the place of poll (to prevent voter impersonation or identity theft),” a statement from the joint Opposition read. (G3)
