Preliminary Voters’ List is a “bloated monstrosity” and no credible election can come from that – Norton

The “bloated monstrosity” that is the Preliminary Voters’ List (PLE) provides sufficient grounds to question whether the elections machinery can deliver an election that accurately reflects the democratic will of the Guyanese people, says Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton.

During a press conference today, Norton said that the recently-released PLE contains 684,354 names, over 91% of the total population of Guyana.

Norton said that despite this, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has forged ahead with election preparations.

According to him, the Chairperson, Justice (retired) Claudette Singh and the government-nominated commissioners “continue to show total disregard for the concerns of the people of Guyana, inclusive of civil society. They continue to block and vote down the sensible resolutions of the Opposition commissioners. They continue to entirely ignore the conclusions and recommendations of the several 2020 election observer missions.”

Norton said that his APNU+AFC party remains steadfast in its demand that before any new elections in Guyana, GECOM must respect and address the concerns of all stakeholders, inclusive of the Guyanese public.

“We remain steadfast in our call for GECOM to implement the necessary improvements (whether statutory, constitutional, technological, or administrative) to ensure elections of the highest standard. In this regard, we stand by our positions on the need for a clean voters list and biometric identification at polling places. We also believe the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission is biased and cannot be trusted to deliver free and fair elections.

Chairperson Singh and the PPP must face the reality that the majority of Guyanese will not accept any new election results without adequate safeguards and standards,” he said.

Norton’s comments come days after Vice-President, Bharrat Jagdeo warned against the removal of voters. The VP said that what Norton is demanding flies in the face of a High Court ruling that outlines how changes can be made to the voters’ list. Except in the case of death, GECOM is prohibited from removing the names of anyone from the National Register of Registrants, from which the Official List of Electors (OLE) is made.