UN mission doubted new Voter’s List would have more credibility than old list

A Needs Assessment Mission (NAM) of the United Nations had cast doubt on whether a new voter’s list would have more credibility than the old list.

This was revealed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo Thursday as he sought to build his case that the current national house to house registration exercise is a plot by the Government and its representatives on the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to delay elections.

“It is the view of the NAM that there is no certainty that a new voters’ list will have more credibility than the current list and that stakeholders will trust it more.

“Furthermore, any list created close to the elections will likely be criticized as politically motivated,” the UN mission stated in an executive summary of its report to Jagdeo on July 27, 2018.

Among the objectives of the mission was to assess the political environment in Guyana and the legal and institutional framework governing the electoral process.

The mission was undertaken from May 7-11 last year after a request was by GECOM for UN technical electoral assistance. GECOM had requested UN electoral assistance in Information and Communication Technology, and expertise in database and information management systems, including the transmission of election results.

The UN team said the request to the UN to provide internat8ional technical assistance as a measure to mitigate the mistrust and lack of confidence existing among local political actors and stakeholders in general.

Regarding the list, the UN mission found that the main challenge to the voters’ list is the removal of dead persons and Guyanese who have migrated. The Opposition has argued that a Claims and Objections period can correct this. The Chief Elections Officer has also said that this can be done and a list can be produced to have credible elections.