Guyana data chief says digital ID won’t replace voter ID

Guyana’s Data Protection Commissioner, Aneal Giddings, has clarified that the country’s national digital ID is not intended to be used as a voter card.  The official made the clarification recently in an interview with local news outlet NewsRoom.

The Guyana government recently announced a nationwide digital ID rollout after the legislation framework to guide the initiative went into force at the close of March. Prime Minister Mark Phillips said at the time that the digital ID rollout is intended to streamline access to public services in the country through secure and easy authentication, facilitate identity verification for online services, and ensure document authentication through a digital signature.

For Giddings, that’s exactly why the ID was designed, and not to be a replacement for the voter ID card issued by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). The official explained that while the digital ID is designed for access to public and private sectors, as well as for other general public identification, it is not specifically earmarked for voter verification.

“The answer is no,” Giddings told NewsRoom, when asked if citizens could use the new digital ID to vote in upcoming elections in Guyana. “You cannot use this card to vote at any elections, whether it’s local or general and regional. The introduction of the digital identity card is not a replacement for your GECOM ID card,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, I would encourage people to ensure that they get registered with GECOM, update their cards when they need to, but also to get their digital identity card. The two cards serve different purposes. It is very important that you get both,” he advised.

As the next local elections approach in the country, Giddings advised all potential voters to make sure they register with GECOM, and also endeavor to register for the national digital ID.

“Coming to the digital identity card registry and getting a digital identity card will not enable you to vote at an election. Simply put, this card is not intended, nor do I believe it will ever replace GECOM’s ID card. The reason is that we are two separate agencies, created for completely different purposes,” the Data Protection Commissioner asserted.

Before the nationwide launch of Guyana’s digital ID, biometric enrollment had begun, with almost 5,000 registrations reported in January.

Article Topics

digital ID  |  digital identity  |  Guyana  |  identity management  |  voter identification