Dear Editor,
It is good to see GECOM starting to make decisive moves to quicken the path to our country’s next major elections. Per the instructions of GECOM chairwoman Justice Singh, House to House (H2H) registration will now end on August 31st, and there will be an extended Claims and Objections period before producing a preliminary list of voters.
As GECOM’s work picks up momentum, I would like to see the political parties contesting the elections use the opportunity to educate their supporters on how to check the list to confirm they are registered to vote. It will be beneficial because 1. The voters will trust the guidance given by their respective party of choice and 2. GECOM will be able to handle claims and objections more efficiently if the voters know the process.
I hope our next government allocates significant funding to digitize the registration process and allow for faster access and sorting of voter data in the future. With the proper cyber-security framework in place, this will eliminate a lot of hassle and will allow voters to be able to self-register by creating a profile for themselves and uploading the relevant photographs, copies of their documents etc. Let’s see which of our political hopefuls are paying attention and are ready to capitalize on the opportunity to properly set us on the road to modern governance.
Let us look forward to a transparent, credible process to elect our next leaders, and let each of us do our small part to spread knowledge about GECOM’s procedures and help our countrymen and women prepare adequately so no one is unjustly disenfranchised.
Yours faithfully,
Shazaam Ally
The Citizenship Initiative
