news
BRIDGE OPENINGS The Demerara Harbour Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on:
Thursday, October 31 – 05:00h – 06:30h and Friday, November 1 – 05:00h – 06:30h. The Berbice Bridge will be closed to vehicular traffic on: Thursday, October 31 – 06:10h – 07:40h and Friday, November 1 – 06:50h – 08:20h.
FERRY SCHEDULE Parika and Supenaam departure times - 05:00h, 11:00h and 16:00h daily
WEATHER TODAY Sunshine is expected during the day. There will be clear skies at night. Temperatures should range between 21 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius. Winds: North-Easterly to South South-Easterly between 1.78 metres and 4.02 metres. High Tide: 06:18h and 18:2h reaching maximum heights of 2.64 metres and 2.70 metres. Low Tide: 12:03h reaching a minimum height of 0.64 metre.
wednesday, october 30, 2019
LOTTERY NUMBERS B
10 11 15
16 23 25
FREE TICKET
20 Bonus Ball
DAILY MILLIONS
05 06 11 23 26 LUCKY 3
2
2
3
8
Afternoon Draw
5
0
Evening Draw
DRAW DE LINE
04
05
07
08
PAY DAY
04 07 10 12 14
09
10
16 SUPER PAY DAY
01 08 09 10 11
DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS IN PUBLICATION. PLEASE CALL THE HOTLINE FOR CONFIRMATION - TEL: 225-8902
Disqualification of voters
3
thursday, october 31, 2019 | guyanatimesgy.com
Decision to remove voters from OLE illegal – Jagdeo
…likely to disenfranchise thousands
T
he latest manifestation of the desperation within the APNU/AFC coalition camp is the effort by the Government-nominated Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Commissioners to either disenfranchise eligible Guyanese voters or prepare the ground to invalidate the March 2020 General and Regional Elections. This is according to Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo, during a news conference on Wednesday (October 30, 2019), where he referred to the recent decisions made by GECOM. At a prior meeting of GECOM, the Governmentnominated Commissioners pushed to have some 28,000 Guyanese voters removed from the Voters’ List once it is compiled. The grounds being used for such a call is that these persons were registered as voters in 2008 but have not uplifted their national identification (ID) cards. At Tuesday’s (October 29, 2019) statutory meeting, the GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh, voted with the three Government-nominated Commissioners on this matter. As such, the thousands of persons who did not uplift their identification cards will have 21 days to do so or be removed from the Official List of Electors (OLE). However, these persons will remain on the National Register of Registrants Database (NRRDB). “This is patently illegal,” Jagdeo declared. He noted the defence of the decision that was mounted by Governmentnominated Commissioner Vincent Alexander, who, in a report by the State-controlled Guyana Chronicle, said: “It’s like an objection. So, the issue is not the ID card, the issue is that these persons, since 2008 and beyond 2008 have not, in any way, presented themselves to be present; to be known; to be alive; to be existing; to be resident. And, in calling them, writing to them, gives us the opportunity to make a determination”. According to Jagdeo, the Objections period in the ongoing Claims and Objections exercise could be used but this is not being done. “So far, they have filed less than 100 objections….they want to remove names through backdoor processes, rather than go through the statutory process that is Objections….it is a backdoor, illegal way of addressing the issue,” the Opposition Leader said. Jagdeo noted too the State-controlled Guyana Chronicle also report-
Opposition Jagdeo
Leader
Bharrat
ed that: “Corbin also informed the media that the names of these individuals will not be removed from the National Registrar of Registrants (NRR) stating, ‘It would only mean that if these persons exist, they may miss this round of elections’”. According to him, elections in Guyana are governed by laws and the Constitution, not by whims. He referred to the fact that if a voter in the hinterland or in the Pomeroon Region, for example, is unable to uplift an identification card – having been able to vote at previous elections – that person cannot be whimsically removed from the Voters’ List.
ID cards not voter ID cards
Jagdeo stressed that the national identification cards are not voter identification cards. “These are national ID cards. They are not voter ID cards…you don’t need them to vote…in the past, these cards were issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Then it
was decided that GECOM should perform that function for the State, since it was now responsible for registration…to link the two – collect an ID card to the right to vote – is an affront to all Guyanese,” he said. Referring to the Constitution of Guyana, he stressed that Article 59 is clear on the rights of Guyanese voters. Article 59 states: “Subject to the provisions of article 159, every person may vote at an election if he is of the age of eighteen years or upwards and is either a citizen of Guyana or a Commonwealth citizen domiciled and resident in Guyana”. Jagdeo said, “The only requirement to vote is Guyanese 18 and above… nowhere does it mention ID card…they cannot remove people from the Official List of Electors capriciously…it would be an illegal act for them to remove names from the list just because they did not pick up ID cards”.
Addressed before
The Leader pointed out that the issue of uncol-
GECOM Chair, Retired Justice Claudette Singh
lected national identification cards was addressed by the former GECOM Chairperson, Dr Steve Surujbally. In June 2011, Surujbally stated there were some 43,187 identification cards still to be collected. However, he stressed that these are not voting cards and pointed out that the constitutional requirement to vote is to be registered, not necessarily to be in possession of an identification card. Jagdeo said, “This matter was dealt with in the past by GECOM….at that time, it was over 43,000 and those people did not lose their right to vote”. turn to page 10