“Credible Registration, Credible Elections”
̶ Youths call for house-to-house registration
̶ “We have seen over 2011, 2015, how young people have impacted what is happening in this country so for you to disenfranchise such a large population then you’re heading for trouble.” – Shanieka Haynes.
DPI, Guyana, Friday, June 21, 2019
For seventeen-year-old Okive Lewis, voting in the next election is critical.
Lewis who is turning 18 soon stressed that he must be allowed to become registered and cast his ballot whenever the next elections are called.
Youths across Guyana have been showing tremendous support towards the process of house-to-house registration being conducted to allow for all eligible persons to be placed on the voters list so they can exercise their constitutional right.
“It would definitely be a tragedy [if youths are not allowed to become registered]. Why? Because almost every election has been touted to be in the name of our youths, in the name of Guyana’s future and in an election for the future, for your young people, to exclude [those] young people would definitely be a travesty and something that we cannot allow,” another young youth, Kenny Valladares noted.
The Department of Public Information (DPI) spoke to a few persons some of whom were protesting outside of GECOM today to have their voices heard. The youths who hail from all parts of Guyana have maintained that credible registration is the only route to ensuring a free and fair electoral process.
“Well I will soon be turning 18 and I want to vote!” Lewis remarked.
According to them, it is pivotal to exercise their democratic and constitutional rights and to be part of the decision-making process.
Brittany Eversley related her plight to DPI. “I have friends, persons like myself who are not registered. They say youths are the future of the country, but they are not giving us a free and fair election. If they are not going through registration, then how are [we] going to vote? How are [we] going to be the future if [we] didn’t have a say,” Eversley explained.
Ayodele Roach, a 19-year-old Georgetown resident said that a free and fair election is a must.
“Elections in any country should be free and fair. Especially with Guyana now heading into the oil and gas industry. I don’t think we would want to hold an election without a credible list,” Roach highlighted.
“I believe that young people must have a say in what they want their government to do,” said Shanice Richards as she protested outside of the GECOM Office today.
Richards along with dozens of other young persons engaged in a protest mounting social pressure on GECOM to ‘do what is right.’ According to those young people, their voice matters, their opinions matter; their votes matter.
“As a young person, I also want to dictate what happens in government because eventually, that will affect me as a young person. Those youth deserve that chance to vote,” Richards added.
“I don’t think they should carry on an election without a new list not allowing young people to vote,” Okive Lewis reiterated.
Asked what a fair electoral process meant to them, said Brittany Eversley replied: “A free and fair election would mean that we have our registration done. It’s too many youths who are not registered, who don’t have ID cards and will be excluded from the voters’ list,” said Brittany Eversley.
“In our context right now, a fair election would mean obviously a list that is not expired, one that represents and shows persons who are actually living here, the persons who are eligible, the persons who are not dead on a list,” Shanieka Haynes explained.
Shanice Richards also expressed her view saying “If we are going to say fair and free elections then it means that we need to give our youths that chance to exercise their right as a citizen to vote, especially when they reach the age of 18.”
Rondel Holder, 23, said that if young people are not included in the process Guyana will experience another brain drain. According to him, if such a large percentage of persons are disenfranchised, “youths will not show up to the polls in the future because by marginalizing them a culture of lethargy surrounding voting will be created.”
The young persons also spoke on the matter of first-time eligible voters not being allowed to vote because they are excluded from the list.
“Well that would be against the constitution if thousands of persons are blocked from voting,” Ayodele Roach added. “I would definitely 100 percent support a new registration list to ensure that credible and fair and free elections are held.”
Shanieka Haynes articulated that “all those persons who are talking about following the constitution, following the rule of law decisions, these things have to be taken into consideration, because our constitution itself says that when a list is expired you need to have a new one so, therefore, house-to-house registration is a necessity.”
24-year-old Omanelle Boyce, remarked, “they would continually say that the youths are the future and if you’re saying that the youth are the future and you’re not giving the youths the opportunity to vote then you are contradicting yourself.”
Following the December 21 Vote and the recent CCJ ruling pressure has mounted for elections to be called. However, the life of the last voters’ list expired April 30, 2019, and the commencement of house to house registration has been on the cards.
It is the view of President David Granger that a credible list must be produced before an election is held to ensure that the provisions and rights enshrined in the constitution are upheld allowing all eligible persons to vote.
Additionally, the main opposition party, PPP\C has called for the expired voters’ list to be used. GECOM has maintained that the expired list is heavily bloated with over 200,000 names of permanent migrants, dead persons and several duplicate persons.
Images: Marceano Narine and Giovanni Gajie