Chief Justice (ag) Roxane George, SC, on Tuesday, dismissed the application filed by APNU’s Chief Scrutineer, Carol Smith-Joseph, against the voters’ list for the upcoming Local Government Elections (LGE).
In December 2022, Smith-Joseph, through Attorney-at-Law Roysdale Forde, SC, approached the High Court, seeking, among others, for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to compile a Register of Voters under Section 23 (3) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act Cap 28:0 before hosting any Local Government Elections.
In the Fixed Date Application (FDA), Smith-Joseph contended that the process employed by GECOM to prepare a Register of Voters for use at elections which was initially slated for March 13, 2023, had deprived the voters of the opportunity to object to persons on the list.
However, in her ruling, the Chief Justice explained that several of the declarations sought by Smith-Joseph were vague and, under those circumstances, could not grant them.
“There is no evidence that the process of the compilation of the OLE was flawed. There is no credible evidence before this court of ineligible persons being listed on the Register of Voters,” Justice George remarked.
In fact, Justice George deemed Smith-Joseph’s application “unmeritorious,” noting that it took up a lot of judicial time.
According to the Chief Justice, the only plus coming out from the case allows the Court to urge Parliament to harmonise elections laws.
Notwithstanding, the APNU’s Chief Scrutineer was ordered to pay $250,000 in costs to GECOM, Chief Election Officer/the Commissioner of Registration, Vishnu Persaud and Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC.
June 12, 2023, has been earmarked for Local Government Elections. The last Local Government Polls were in 2018.
