Dear Editor,
A letter published in the August 11, 2014 issue of the Guyana Times was entitled ‘Heads must roll for ACDA’s access to Gecom’s database’ under the pen of Mr Sultan Mohamed.
Mr Mohamed’s letter was well written and reflects an educated mind. It is therefore inexplicable that Mr Mohamed would take such a stance without seeking to understand how Gecom functions in so far as access to Lists of Electors is concerned.
The tenets of transparency and accountability place the onus on Gecom to make Lists of Electors publicly available to all stakeholders. Moreso, Gecom is statutorily required to publish the Preliminary List of Electors, as we have done for the ongoing Claims and Objections exercise in preparation of an Official List of Electors.
Further, we routinely make hard and electronic copies of the Preliminary and Official Lists of Electors to the parliamentary political parties in order that the lists may be checked by the respective parties for accuracy. Also, the Official List of Electors is posted on the Gecom website at www.gecom.org.gy
In view of the foregoing it must be absolutely clear that any stakeholder can legitimately access the 2011 Official List of Electors and/or the current Preliminary List of Electors which has now been posted countrywide. Accordingly, there is no need for “heads to roll.”
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Persaud
Public Relations Officer
Guyana Elections Commission
