See below the full release from the Private Sector Commission:
The Private Sector Commission (PSC) has continuously served as Accredited Observers of the country’s General and Regional Elections and, in that capacity, in anticipation of the 2025 General and Regional Elections, has and is engaging with all of the key stakeholders, including GECOM, the international Diplomatic Community and the established political parties contesting the elections.
The Private Sector Commission is guided in its commitment to supporting free, fair and transparent elections by the following basic principles:
1. The governance and administration of the elections must comply with and conform to the Constitution of Guyana.
2. The governance and administration of the elections must ensure that every citizen of Guyana who is duly qualified to vote must be afforded a free and fair opportunity to be registered and to cast his or her vote at the assigned polling place.
The Private Sector Commission has taken note of a decision attributed to the Chairperson of GECOM, Justice Claudette Singh (Ret’d), published in the media and confirmed in a letter to the media by GECOM Commissioner, Clement Rohee, that “having carefully listened to all of the presentations made by the Commissioners, and having reviewed all submissions including my research, I have recognized that the Commissioners have made different arguments for and against the introduction of biometrics, both at the point of registration and at the place of poll. With less than a year to go before these Elections, and given the number of tasks that would need to be done before such a system can be properly introduced, and all of the work already required to prepare for General and Regional Elections, I am convinced that this is not feasible within the time presently available”.
The Private Sector Commission is in support of the position taken by the Chair of GECOM. The Private Sector Commission wishes to point out that there is no constitutional nor legal requirement for the introduction of biometric fingerprinting identification at the place of poll.
The Private Sector Commission wishes to point out that biometric fingerprinting is presently only legally required at the time of registration. This process is conducted with representatives from each political party present to verify voter identity and, on completion of the process, the scanned manual fingerprints are transformed into digital images and stored in a secured database which is subsequently checked internationally for crossmatching to ensure against duplication.
Additionally, the Private Sector Commission wishes to emphasize that the voting process is highly secure and well protected at the place of poll. It is impossible at each polling place for anyone to vote more than once, or for one individual to cast a vote on behalf of another as each polling station is staffed by officials from the various contesting political parties, as well as with both local and international observers, who are present to ensure the accuracy and transparency of the voting process.
At the close of polling, the votes are then transparently counted in front of each party official and then signed and certified by each party official. Each party official is equipped with a folio showing the picture and bio data of each voter for that polling station. If there is any doubt, the process is stopped, a verification process is conducted and only when everyone is satisfied then the voting is allowed to continue.
In conclusion, the PSC is convinced that, for the reasons set out above, the current use of biometrics at the point of registration is perfectly acceptable for verifying voter identity in the 2025 elections.
