APNU+AFC slams PPP/C for misinforming public
… there are clear legal provisions for anyone to access death certificates
ARMED with the Law, the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) slammed the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) over what it described as a blatant attempt to misinform and mislead the public on the laws governing access to Death Certificates.
Executive Member of the PPP/C, Anil Nandlall, in an attempt to discredit a move by the APNU+AFC to supply the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) with Death Certificates, on Tuesday alleged that it was illegal to source Death Certificates from the General Register Office (GRO) without permission from the deceased next of kin. But APNU+AFC Executive Member Aubrey Norton, on Wednesday, told reporters that Nandlall is simply being “disingenuous.”
In rubbishing the claims made by Nandlall, Norton pointed to Section 40 (2) of the Registration of Birth and Death Act which provides for anyone to access Death Certificates at a fee. Section 40 (2) states: “Everyone should be entitled, on payment of the fees prescribed by the Ministry by order, to search the indices between the hours of ten o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon of every day, except public holidays and Saturdays, and to have extracted therefrom a sealed certificate of Birth in Form 4 or a sealed Certificate of Death in Form 5, as the case may be.”
Nandlall, in an attempt to support his claim of illegality, made reference to the Access to Information Act; but that too does not bar persons from accessing records such as Death Certificates.
Section 15 of the Access to Information Act states: “A person may not apply, under this Act for access to – (a) a document which contains information that is open to public access or on an official website, as part of a public register or otherwise, in accordance with any other written law, where even that access is subject to a fee or other charge.”
CLEAR IRREGULARITIES
According to the APNU+AFC, since the recount of the votes cast at the General and Regional Elections commenced on May 6, 1,937 numerical irregularities have been unearthed, thereby affecting 90,707 votes. Among the alleged irregularities cited are cases in which persons voted in the place of dead people. The coalition has cited 40 such cases, and, according to Norton, the APNU+AFC has commenced the process of providing the Elections Commission with evidence in the form of Death Certificates.
Apart from the alleged cases of ‘ghost voters,’ the APNU+AFC is alleging that 1,261 persons voted in the place of migrants. Added to that, it said that 315 Certificates of Employment are missing; 284 poll books are missing; 143 persons, who had no form of identification, voted without taking an Oath of Identity; 138 missing Oaths of Identity; 40 unstamped ballots and seven missing Official List of Electors (OLEs).
Amid the mountain of allegations, GECOM Chair, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh said “he who asserts must prove,” and according to Norton, the coalition, has been doing just that. He said apart from supplying the Elections Commission with Death Certificates, APNU+AFC is providing information on migrants, who were out of the jurisdiction on Monday, March 2 but are marked off on the Official List of Electors as having voted.
While remaining adamant that the APNU+AFC did its “homework” ahead of the National Recount, and ascertain “credible” information on persons who have migrated, Norton said at this stage, the coalition is following the legal steps to access the information on migrants. He noted that the coalition is in the process of compiling a list with names of migrants, who are alleged to have voted, with the intention of supplying it to GECOM’s Secretariat.
“As I understand it…we can write the Chief Elections Officer ask them to use their authority to access the database to confirm or deny,” Norton posited even as he remained resolute that the information that the coalition has in its possession is of evidential value. However, he said “it is GECOM, who in the final analysis would have to verify” the information. This, he said, is provided for in the order which was gazetted on May 4, and legally triggered the recount.
While the Chair of GECOM has invited the coalition to provide evidence to support its claims, Commissioner Sase Gunraj, who was nominated to the Commission by the PPP/C, has long contended that it is not the role of GECOM to investigate cases of alleged irregularities cited during the recount. But the Government-nominated Commissioners, Vincent Alexander and Desmond Trotman, have disagreed with that position, contending that GECOM has the authority under the laws of the country to solicit immigration and other records, and ought to do so to confirm or negate the claims made in the interest of transparency.
MISSING POLL BOOKS
That aside, the APNU+AFC Official dismissed contentions that the Poll Books are of little value to the ongoing recount of the votes cast at the General and Regional Elections on March 2. Norton submitted that the Poll Books have critical information on activities at the Poll Stations on E-Day, such as the use of Certificates of Employment and use of Affidavits or taking of Oaths of Identity.
“It is very difficult in a circumstance, where having counted 797 Boxes, there are 284 missing Poll Books, and let’s translate that into illegality and fraud, what it says, is that all the votes that are covered in those 284 Poll Books are in question, and that amounts to about 90,707. Why is it in question? First, you can’t determine the Certificates of Employment, you can’t determine those with Identity of Oath because there are no records; but, most importantly, the law stipulates that at the end of the process, a seal be placed on the ballot box, and when the seal is placed, the number for that seal should be written in the Poll Book,” Norton reasoned.
He said it is important for the Poll Books to be sourced ahead of the completion of the recount to ascertain the authenticity of the contents of the affected ballot boxes.
With the number of alleged irregularities steadily increasing, Norton, in response to a question posed, said GECOM, at the end of the recount exercise, would need to make a determination. “I think GECOM has to assess it, and, based on its assessment, make a pronouncement on what should happen with the elections. It is not for me to pronounce,” Norton told reporters, while making it clear that what GECOM has embarked on, is not a numerical count of the ballots cast on March 2.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_05_28_2020