Nandlall criticises Opposition GECOM commissioners over push for prisoner to vote

Jun 19, 2025 News

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Kaieteur News – Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, has criticised the recent push by opposition-nominated commissioners of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for their push to include incarcerated persons in the upcoming September 1 elections, calling the move ‘obstructionist and ill-timed.’

For several weeks, since the announcement of the election date, opposition-nominated commissioners have been advocating for prisoners to be allowed to vote. The matter has been met with delayed decisions and rifts within the commission.

At a previous GECOM meeting, opposition-nominated commissioner Vincent Alexander disclosed that chairperson, Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, had agreed to raise the issue with the attorney general and was awaiting his response at the next statutory meeting.

However, during his ‘Issues in the News’ online programme Tuesday evening, Nandlall publicly rebuked the opposition’s late-stage push.

“You can’t spring that on a population and spring that on the Elections Commission three months before elections. You clearly want to frustrate the holding of elections, you want to obstruct elections from taking place, and that will not happen,” he stated.

Nandlall argued that the same Opposition members who now advocate for prisoner voting never sought to advance such a policy during their years in government.

“They governed the country for 28 years and then another five [2015–2020]. They never championed the cause of prisoners voting for all those years. The laws have never changed. How come, three months before elections, this is an issue of sudden contention? They didn’t know they wanted prisoners to vote when they were in government?” he asked.

He further called their current advocacy politically motivated and obstructionist.

Further, Nandlall explained that Guyana has historically not permitted incarcerated individuals to vote, a position that aligns with inherited British-era practices.

“I suspect that philosophically, it may have been felt that that part of their freedom the right to vote would have been curtailed by imprisonment,” he said.

He also emphasised that while the constitution guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms, these rights are subject to limitations especially in the case of imprisonment.

“The constitution that confers the fundamental rights and freedoms on the citizens also subjects those rights to restrictions. These restrictions include persons who lost their liberty and are in custody due to sentences and orders of courts of competent jurisdiction. Therefore, the same way that prisoners lose their right to liberty, it includes their right to vote. This is provided for by the constitution, the very instrument that gives them the freedom,” Nandlall stated.

He clarified that implementing prisoner voting would not only require a shift in national policy but also the enactment of new legislation and logistical planning.

“Such a change would require a formal policy, amendments to the law, and administrative and logistical arrangements to make inmate voting possible,” he added.

During the previous GECOM meetings, the debate over the issue has exposed divisions among commissioners. According to Commissioner Alexander, during the discussion, the chairperson indicated there may be legal restrictions on public engagement with incarcerated individuals, which could complicate any plan to include them in the electoral process.

“The chairman sought to suggest that there is some law that forbids the public or anyone from speaking with prisoners, and therefore, we don’t have the facilitation to allow them to vote,” Alexander said.

However, the opposition-nominated commissioners rejected this argument.

“We argue that there is no need to speak with prisoners. The list of the incarcerated can be compiled the same way the list of the disciplined services is compiled, and they can vote on that day without us touching the prisoners,” he asserted.

Government-nominated commissioner Sase Gunraj rebutted, stating that legal provisions are required for such a move.

“This is an issue that requires specific legislation. Prisoners are governed by specific legislation, and as a consequence, to merely say we are going to put a polling station in the prison… Just like how special legislation is put in place to deal with voting on days outside of election day by disciplined service members, there is no such facility in the law to allow voting by prisoners. And as a consequence, that was a conclusion on the discussion,” Gunraj explained.

Gunraj confirmed to Kaieteur News that the commission has not yet made a final decision and that the chairperson has undertaken to seek further legal guidance from the attorney general, who serves as GECOM’s legal advisor.

Meanwhile, preparations for the September 1 elections continue. Alexander informed Kaieteur News on Wednesday that GECOM will be hosting a briefing for contesting political parties on July 19. He also noted that the commission has approved appointments for Returning Officers (ROs) and Supernumerary Returning Officers (SROs).

Appointments for Deputy Returning Officers (DROs), Senior DROs, and other electoral staff will be considered once applicant spreadsheets are presented.

“The sheets should detail the bases for the recommended appointments,” Alexander stated.

In addition, GECOM continued its discussion on the removal of deceased persons from the Register of Registrants. Alexander said the commission agreed to process lists submitted by the General Registrar’s Office (GRO), but legal advice will be sought from the attorney general regarding the use of “form 12” to delete names submitted by the Commissioner of Police and Chief Medical Officer.

“That was a consensus,” he said, although he emphasised that he had pushed for the immediate use of form 12.

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• AFC, APNU, GECOM, Mohabir Anil Nandlall, Vincent Alexander

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