Opposition-nominated Commissioner at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Vincent Alexander has suggested the utilization of biometric systems specifically the use of fingerprint scanning at polling stations.
He plans to formally present his proposition to the Commission when it sits to discuss the government-proposed amendments to the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), the instrument used to govern elections in the country.
During a live “Politics 101” programme hosted by Dr David Hinds on Thursday night, Alexander said that the feature will serve as a “barrier” against those voters who seek to circumvent the rules governing the excising of their franchise.
The Commissioner said that anyone serious about strengthening electoral systems would agree with this proposition.
“In our present circumstance, if anybody is really concerned about ensuring that we don’t have people who are dead or not home (Guyana) voting, that we introduce a system at the place of poll where the voter’s fingerprints are checked against the system – because they are in the system,” he said.
During the five-month prolonged 2020 elections, allegations of “phantom” voting arose. These reports were made mainly by the former APNU+AFC government. Party members, including the now Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, held up lists of names of persons whom they said were dead or living abroad but still voted.
However, several of those persons later surfaced saying that their demise was greatly exaggerated and that they were also in the country on elections day.
