The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has been able to register more than 100,000 persons since the start of its national house-to-house registration exercise two weeks ago.
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), 108, 814 persons have been registered as of August 2nd, 2019.
When Sunday Stabroek contacted GECOM Public Relations Officer Yolanda Ward, she indicated that while she could not confirm the figure since she was not in office, it was likely that more than 100,000 persons have been registered.
“As of last weekend, we had registered approximately 70,000, so the number should be more than 100,000 this weekend,” Ward noted.
She also indicated that while threats to enumerators have declined, there are still some reports of attacks coming in.
“We have been making reports to police who are investigating and we’ve had some police presence out in the field,” she stated, although she could not confirm whether any persons had been detained or questioned by police in relation to attacks against GECOM staff.
A statement from the commission last Wednesday indicated that a number of enumerators were “attacked and injured due to dog bites which were instigated by residents who are allegedly not in agreement with the registration exercise” setting loose their dogs to attack the field staff.
It was also reported that some persons are using threatening language, instilling fear and providing misinformation that the staff will not be paid for their service.
“As a consequence, the Commission has engaged the Guyana Police Force to provide surveillance in communities and to assist with the security of the field staff,” the statement said.
GECOM urged citizens to desist from such unlawful and obscene acts, while warning that they would be arrested and prosecuted.
Asked to comment on claims made by persons, including Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, that foreigners are being registered, Ward said she has no evidence of any such occurrence.
“We have published based on what the law says the eligibility for registration is. Verification is done in a number of layers and enumerators cannot register persons who are not eligible,” she stressed, while adding that it is possible for foreigners to become naturalised citizens and therefore be eligible for registration. “Persons who are making these accusations need to be sure that these individuals are not eligible based on Guyanese law,” Ward explained.
According to the law, only those who are Guyanese by birth, descent, naturalisation or registration or a citizen of a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for a period of no less than one year preceding the qualifying date are eligible for registration. Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti are not commonwealth countries and therefore any of their nationals who entered Guyana in 2018 or 2019 would not be eligible for registration.
Last Thursday, a concerned citizen contacted Stabroek News with the claim that Venezuelans who had been in the country for less than two years were being registered.
This newspaper was able to visit the family in question who said that while they had migrated from Venezuela less than two years ago, it was a remigration since they were born in Guyana.
A young woman present at the home explained that she and her brother had lived in Venezuela for several years before returning home and had, therefore, been registered using their Guyanese birth certificates. “My other brother never left Guyana and we moved back in with him,” she noted.
A visit to the registration cluster office confirmed the information provided. According to the Assistant Registration Officer (ARO) in the area, all the individuals registered in the area have been registered based on a Guyanese birth certificate or valid Guyanese passport.
“We have not yet encountered any Venezuelans or naturalised citizens. Everyone registered so far has been Guyanese born,” he stressed.
