Dear Editor,
In Saturday’s edition of the Stabroek News, I observed an article that deeply troubled me to my core: “AG appeals CJ’s ruling on existing registrants.” I am by no means any legal expert, but please allow me to explain why, if the Attorney General’s appeal is successful, my democratic right would then be deeply violated.
After Chief Justice Roxane George ruled, the AG claimed success; now he is attempting to partially appeal the ruling. He is challenging her declaration that existing registrants cannot be removed from the database. The AG is attempting to get a ruling that allows GECOM to scrap the database that had been in existence for over a decade and used it multiple elections (without a complaint from any political parties).
From my understanding, he is trying to impose residency as a requirement to be registered. At the time of my registration, I was residing in Guyana. Anyone registering would have been residing, or physically present, in the country, as that is how one would go to GECOM and register. It seems as if the AG is also trying to impose this as a right to be on the database. So every time one exits Guyana, GECOM will delete them. In that case, GECOM should set up shop at the airport; when we leave, delete; and register us back when we land.
The law itself doesn’t seem to support these claims. In Article 159 (qualification and disqualification for electors) of the Guyana Constitution, section 2 deals with how one qualifies, (a) states a citizen of Guyana and (c) “satisfies such other qualifications as may be prescribed by or under any law.” The AG is attempting to force the court to legislate residency into my right to vote.
I would like to point out that in the Constitution of Guyana, there is a section (31) that speaks to the protection of citizens’ rights abroad. “It is the duty of the State to protect the just rights and interests of citizens’ resident abroad.” Isn’t my right to vote something worth protecting?
The Chief Justice said: “The right to register to vote and the right to vote are sacrosanct and fundamental. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Guyana has acceded, establishes the right to vote as a matter of international human rights law, and provides that every citizen has a right to vote.”
ICCPR was adopted and opened for signature, ratification, and accession by the General Assembly (resolution 2200A(XXI)) on December 16th, 1966. The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights has the right to vote under Article 25.
I have combed through the Constitution of Guyana, the Peoples Representation Act, and the National Registration Act, and editor, I am still trying to see how the Attorney General can rationally think to delete the database is in our law books.
I hope the Appellate Court protects my right to vote and uphold the Chief Justice’s ruling.
Respectfully,
Nutana Singh
