GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Guyana Elections Commission(GECOM) Monday said that it has “noted with much concern” an online publication in which the leader of the primary opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR), Aubrey Norton, is quoted as saying that the party’s “polling agents will block foreigners from voting” in the upcoming regional and general election next year.
“…the Guyana Elections Commission is urging political stakeholders to be responsible and cautious about their comments in the public domain as these can potentially affect the electoral process and have severe consequences,” GECOM said.
“It is, therefore, necessary for GECOM to clarify that for any name to be listed on the Official List of Electors (OLE), persons must satisfy the eligibility criteria for registration as stipulated in the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08.
“The law provides for a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalization/registration or a citizen of a Commonwealth Country living in Guyana one year or more to be eligible for registration. As such, once a person has satisfied those requirements and has provided authentic supporting documentation, they are registered according to the legal provisions,” GECOM said.
Addressing a PNCR public meeting over the weekend in Calcutta, Mahaicony, Norton said opposition polling agents would be looking for foreigners clearly not connected to Guyana.
“Let us tell them. When we put we are polling officers in the polling station, and they can’t talk proper English: ‘bam-bam,’” he said, adding that there are Venezuelans who were born to Guyanese parents, and so could speak English.
“You must know that many of the children who returned from Venezuela, of Guyanese descent, can speak English and so will know that, but if the government’s plot is to bring people into this country and use them to vote because they recognize they are unpopular, we will not accept that,” Norton said.
Last week, Vice President and general secretary of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jagdeo, publicly called on Norton to provide evidence that ineligible foreigners, such as Venezuelans and Bangladeshis, were being registered so that they could vote in the 2025 general and regional elections.
The government has denied facilitating the registration of Venezuelans to vote in the elections.
In its statement, GECOM said that “it is important to note that scrutineers from the PNCR are permanently present at all GECOM’s Registration Offices countrywide and are actively involved in the registration process, including the signing off on the accuracy of applications for registration transactions.”
GECOM also indicated that Section 72 (10) of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03 makes provision for this category of voters at the place of pol as it referenced statements made by Norton that a means of identifying ‘foreigners’ would be when eligible electors are unable to speak proper English.
“Specifically, the law stipulates that “whenever in the opinion of the presiding officer an elector does not understand the language spoken to him, he may appoint and swear, in Form 20, an interpreter; and the interpreter, so sworn, shall be the means of communication between the presiding officer and the elector about all matters required to enable the elector to vote.”
GECOM said that against this backdrop, it, as the constitutional agency responsible for the conduct of elections in Guyana, “is perturbed at Mr. Norton’s mischievous statements that can potentially cause fear and harm to eligible voters exercising their constitutional rights on Elections Day.
“It must be noted, however, that the Guyana Elections Commission manages Elections, and political party agents will have no authority to determine who votes. Once a person’s name is in the OLE, all the necessary legal and administrative scrutiny is done, and they are qualified to be listed.”
As a result, it said, “It must be emphasized that an election official or security personnel can be prosecuted for committing election offenses such as deliberately obstructing or interfering with the work of an Election Officer and intimidating eligible electors.
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