Guyana seeks expert advice on introduction of biometric voter verification system

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) says it will hire a consultant to get expert opinion on how to go about the implementation of a digital fingerprint biometric voter registration and verification system being proposed in the country.

GECOM Chairperson, retired Justice Claudette Singh, disclosed the information recently after a meeting with the Secretary General of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Bharrat Jadgeo. In her message, she reiterated her earlier position that introducing the biometric system for elections later this year will not be possible.

According to Demerara Waves, Singh stated that “any focus on preparations for the introduction of biometric fingerprint capture must be shelved until after the upcoming elections.”

She is further cited as saying that “the consultant would be required, based on research and analysis, to prepare a project taking all variables into consideration including technological, legal, financial and operational frameworks.”

“In my view, this is what should be our first step in the direction of introducing digital fingerprint capture during the registration process,” she opines.

Terms of refence for the expression of interest will be prepared soon, she said.

The idea to introduce biometric verification in Guyana has been a contentious topic in the last couple of years. While opposition parties and digital rights advocates have been pushing for it, the election management agency is cautious about the idea saying that a constitutional amendment is required to go ahead with the move.

Singh made a statement in mid-January that sparked reactions from opposition circles when she said GECOM was not considering the biometrics idea for the upcoming elections due to constraints listed in a feasibility studies report released last year.

Her statement prompted vociferous reactions, with opposition figures insisting that biometrics are the only solution for a country with a history of election malpractices.

Singh’s latest reiteration that the idea has to be shelved is also not going down well with those fronting the immediate introduction of the system.

Opposition leader Aubrey Norton, in a press briefing, asked how Singh concluded that it will be impossible to introduce the system without expert knowledge in the domain.

“The Opposition rejects this latest proposal as inadequate and unacceptable. The GECOM Chair is acting as a bias arbiter, when she should be seeking consensus, and is causing Guyanese to raise questions about her competence, integrity and courage,” Kaieteur News quoted Norton as saying.

Meanwhile, GECOM recently gave updates on voter registration figures saying 738,484 names are now found in the elections database. This follows the end of a claims and objection period which was aimed to address voter registration queries.

Apart from biometric verification at the polling station, the opposition has also been calling for the introduction of a digital fingerprinting system for voter registration to streamline the process and eliminate double registrations. For now, a manual fingerprinting method is used for voter registration in Guyana.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  digital ID  |  elections  |  Guyana  |  voter registration