GUYANA VOTER LIST IN LEGAL LIMBO: ELECTION PREVIEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000594

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

WHA/CAR
WHA/OAS
S/CRS
SOUTHCOM FOR POLAD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM GY
SUBJECT: GUYANA VOTER LIST IN LEGAL LIMBO: ELECTION PREVIEW
#9

REF: A. GEORGETOWN 499

B. GEORGETOWN 471

C. GEORGETOWN 462

D. GEORGETOWN 181


1. (U) SUMMARY. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is
progressing with its work to prepare a final voter list for
the upcoming national elections. But Guyanese disagree
whether registered electors must reside in Guyana to have the
right to vote. Because emigration rates are so high, this is
a very controversial political and social issue. That it
remains unresolved less than three months before elections
(hopefully) take place just underscores the disfunction of
Guyanese politics. END SUMMARY.

--------------
"Residency Requirement" to Vote?
--------------


2. (U) The question of whether a person must reside in Guyana
in order to vote has simmered for years. Unfortunately,
GECOM and the political parties have made no effort to
resolve this "residency requirement" question. This is a
sensitive issue for Guyanese that transcends ethnic
boundaries. Many ordinary Guyanese feel that those who
emigrate -- at least 2 percent of the total population each
year -- relinquish their right to have a say in domestic
politics. (Note: This should not be confused with overseas
voting, which has been disallowed since 1991 because the PNC
historically used it to help rig elections. The issue at
hand is whether Guyanese citizens living abroad and still
registered to vote can return to Guyana and vote on election
day.) Over 80 percent of this year's voter list has been
"carried over" from the 2001 and 1997 registration exercises.
Given the huge outflux of emigrants from Guyana, 10 to 15
percent of these voters have probably left the country since
the last election in 2001.

-------------- --
GECOM / Civil Society Group Seek Legal Opinions
-------------- --


3. (U) In late May, the Private Sector Commission (PSC),one
of Guyana's few notable civil society groups, called on GECOM
to advise the public on "what is required under the law with
regard to the matter of residency." If there is in fact a
residency requirement to be a registered elector, then the
consensus is that a full verification exercise will be
necessary. This would result in a further, extensive
election delay.


4. (SBU) GECOM agreed to seek legal opinions on the matter,
as did the PSC separately. Five pre-eminent Guyanese legal
minds have weighed in with legal opinions -- two for and
three (including the Attorney General) against a residency
requirement. Predictably, the issue remains unsettled
despite this flurry of legal opinions. When PolOff asked a
PSC leader what would now be done with these opinions, the
reply came: "Throw them over the shoulder." For months, post
and other donors have urged the GoG and GECOM to obtain a
binding legal ruling from the courts that would resolve the
dilemma, to no avail. Post also asked around if the matter
could be brought directly to the fledgling Caribbean Court of
Justice, but this appears unfeasible.

--------------
What the Law Says
--------------


5. (U) Articles 59 and 159 of Guyana's constitution seem
clear that every Guyanese citizen eighteen or older can vote
if registered as an elector, regardless of domicile. (Note:
Guyana allows dual-nationality, so emigrants retain Guyanese
citizenship.) The one catch in the constitution is that to
be registered as an elector, one must satisfy "such other
qualifications as may be prescribed by or under any law".
Some argue that other such laws (i.e., the 2005 National
Registration Amendment Act, the 2000 Election Laws Amendment
Act, and the 1991 Constitutional Amendment Act) contain
statutes that require residency to be properly registered.
Overall, the case against a residency requirement seems
stronger.


GEORGETOWN 00000594 002 OF 002


-------------- --------------
Just an Extension of House-to-House Verification Debate
-------------- --------------


6. (U) The residency requirement issue is taking center stage
now because the main opposition party PNC/R sees it as a
legal lever to force house-to-house verification of the voter
list. Opposition leaders insist on physically verifying each
voter at his/her residence because they want emigrants
removed from the rolls. They believe that most emigrants are
Indo-Guyanese -- and thus more likely to support the ruling
PPP/C.


7. (U) The PNC/R has painted itself into a corner over this
issue (ref D) and has tried, with limited success, to
mobilize its base to demand house-to-house verification.
Nevertheless, election preparations are moving forward
without house-to-house, forcing the PNC/R to resort to legal
tactics instead. They have already challenged the
constitutional amendment extending the election deadline one
month to September 2 (ref B). The PNC/R also orchestrated
several thousand "objections" to Indo-Guyanese names on the
preliminary voter list in the final days of the recently
concluded Claims and Objections period -- on the grounds that
these people were either fictitious, deceased, or no longer
in Guyana.

--------------
Comment
--------------


8. (SBU) The residency requirement question is an important
one, which should have been decided long ago through the
legislative process. That GECOM failed to push for a
resolution is symptomatic of Guyana's political disfunction
and GECOM's inability to take decisions. That said, the
timing of the PNC/R's challenge over residency is
opportunistic, even cynical. If the legal argument for a
residency requirement were so strong, it begs the question of
why the PNC/R did not push the issue earlier, rather than in
the immediate run-up to elections. The PNC/R appears to be
grasping at straws to find a way to delay elections further
and remove emigrants from the voter list. The GoG, for its
part, has made matters worse by not heeding advice to obtain
a legal ruling. Both sides share the blame for this failure
to resolve the residency requirement issue -- a failure that
has inserted yet more uncertainty into an already shaky
election process. END COMMENT.
BULLEN