Prominent political figure and attorney-at-law Ralph Ramkarran, SC, has declared that the implementation of mandatory biometric identification is unconstitutional.
The Chairwoman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), retired Justice Claudette Singh, recently ruled that introducing biometrics as the only means of identification would impose an additional requirement for voters and, therefore, be unconstitutional.
Despite the chair’s ruling, the Opposition has continued to clamour for biometrics, with even the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), proposing a three-day protest in front of GECOM.
However, given the Chair’s decision, Ramkarran, in his column under ‘The Conversation Tree,’ Ramkarran posited that one would expect the Opposition clamour for biometric identification would have subsided.
“… and that its advocates would reorient their campaign for legal reform. Not so!” The Senior Counsel opined that the Commission could introduce it in that way as another tool to identify persons. However, he noted that legislation will be necessary for the introduction of such tools.
“Justice Claudette Singh is the leading authority in Guyana on the issues of legality and constitutionality relating to the right to vote, having presided over the Esther Perreira Case, which gave the definitive decision on the matter in 2001,” Ramkarran remarked.
According to Ramkarran, the Esther Perreira Case highlights that legal obstacles placed in the path of voters that obstruct them from voting if they are qualified under articles 59 and 159 of the Constitution, namely, they are Guyanese, over the age of 18, and registered to vote, are unconstitutional.
“This is the view that has been subsisting since 2001 and is known to those who are advocating for biometric voting, that is, the use of digitised fingerprints as the sole means of identification to enable a person to vote,” he added.
Only last Thursday, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo said at his weekly press conference that the implementation of mandatory biometric identification is unconstitutional. He added that the opposition’s calls are aimed at preventing people from voting in the upcoming polls.
