GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC -Less than 48 hours after it said all stakeholders have a statutory duty and civic responsibility to contribute to the September 1 general and regional elections being conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECO) has voted down a proposal requiring voters to surrender their mobile phones before casting their ballots.
Opposition parties have contended that persons take photographs of their ballots before placing them in the box to ensure that they are paid for casting their ballots in support of specific candidates.
But while the Commission at its meeting on Tuesday maintained that taking a photograph of one’s ballot is illegal, it has opted not to implement the mandatory phone storage policy at polling stations.
“At GECOM …a decision has been taken not to have voters lodge their phones as a measure to ensure that they are not used to photograph their ballots. GECOM, however, agrees that the taking of such pics is prohibited,” said opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Vincent Alexander.
He told reporters he had submitted to the GECOM meeting that voters should not be allowed to enter the polling booth with their phones, as a means to protect the secrecy of the vote.
He said the Commission has had evidence of previous instances of people snapping photos of their ballot and making their voting choice known on social media.
Alexander said it also represents a deeper issue of vote buying.
“My concern is that voters are being purchased, and that a condition precedent is that a person should take a picture to show that they did vote as promised before they are paid. Now that is a form of coercion.
“That interferes with free, fair, and transparent elections, and therefore, if we don’t allow people to take their phones in, it reduces that possibility significantly. Unfortunately, the GECOM administration and the commissioners appointed by the Government, as well as the chairperson, objected to that proposition,” Alexander said.
Media reports said that the GECOM chair, retired Justice Claudette Singh, supported the position adopted by the Government-nominated Commissioners that the phones of voters should not be taken away before they enter the polling booth.
On Monday, in a statement, GECOM said it was taking the opportunity to ensure that the elections are conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and credible manner and that it is an offence for any person, including the voter himself, to communicate at any time to any person, any information about the political party for which any voter has voted on his behalf or as a proxy on behalf of another voter;
“Similarly, it is an offence for anyone to influence, by any means, a voter to display his ballot paper, to make known the political party for whom he has voted on his behalf, or as a proxy.”
GECOM stated that it is also an offence for any person, directly or indirectly, to offer any money, gift, or loan to any voter to secure the vote of any voter at the elections.
“Any person who commits any of the above offences shall be liable on summary conviction to pay a fine and to imprisonment for six months,” GECOM said, adding that “persons convicted for any of the above offences may also be prohibited from participating in future elections”.
GECOM said that a total of seven political parties have submitted their lists of candidates to contest the upcoming elections, which several national, regional, and international observers will monitor.
The incumbent President Irfaan Ali of the ruling People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) is seeking a second and final term. He is one of four candidates contesting the position of President during the elections. The others are Aubrey Norton of the main coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Nigel Hughes of the Alliance for Change (AFC), and Azruddin Mohamed of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) political party.
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