…as GECOM prepares for LGE
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) will start preparing the Register of Voters and open Claims and Objections on February 13, 2023, ahead of the Local Government Elections (LGE).
On Saturday, GECOM announced that Claims and Objections will open on Monday, and last until February 22.
During this period, persons can object to a voter who is in the same constituency list as them. When making an objection, the relevant documents such as an original death certificate must be presented.
“Objections against the inclusion of names in the PLV can be tendered to the Assistant Electoral Registrar (AER) of the Local Authority Area (LAA) from 13th February, 2023 to 22nd February, 2023. Objections can be made by a Voter who is listed in the same constituency list in which the person being objected to is listed,” GECOM said.
“Objections can also be made by accredited scrutineers of political parties provided that any such scrutineer must be accredited to the LAA in which the person being objected to is listed. The relevant original document(s) such as an original Death Certificate must be presented at the time of the hearing of objections to support the basis upon which the objection is made.”
Additionally, GECOM will begin preparing the Register of Voters, from which the Official List of Electors will be drawn. Anyone eligible to be registered as a voter and not on the Preliminary List of Voters, can make a claim to entry on or before February 19.
“During this exercise, any person who will be 18 years and older by the 22nd May, 2023, and is a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, or naturalisation, or is a citizen from a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for one year or more, can make a Claim to entry on the Register of Voters (RoV) on or before 19th February, 2023 providing that he/she is not listed in the Preliminary List of Voters (PLV), which have been posted in every Constituency in the respective Local Authority Areas.”
GECOM went on to urge all eligible persons who would be eligible to vote at the upcoming LGE, but are not listed in the PLV, to use this opportunity to get registered in order to qualify to vote at the elections. The commission also encouraged persons to object to the inclusion of the name of any person who they believe does not meet the eligibility criteria to be in the list.
It was only a few days ago that GECOM wrote to Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall, requesting he set May 22 as the date for Local Government Elections. Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities Act empowers the Local Government Minister to appoint a day for the elections.
In a letter to Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall on Wednesday last, Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission, Retired Justice Claudette Singh indicated that the date currently earmarked for the possible holding of Local Government polls is Monday, May 22, 2023.
Last week, the electoral body approved a new work plan for the conduct of the Local Government polls. The GECOM Secretariat had said it will immediately move to roll out a robust civic and voter education programme, appoint Electoral Registrars and Assistant Electoral Registrars, and extract the PLV. These activities are directly linked to the preparation of Registers of Voters for each of the 80 Local Authority Areas.
Since preparations for the conduct of the LGE commenced in 2022, GECOM said it had already completed the training of management and polling day staff for all of the LAAs and the receipt of applications for and approval of symbols submitted by political parties, voluntary groups, and individuals who intend to contest in the elections.
Once a date is set by the Local Government Minister, the Elections Commission will determine when Nominations Day will be held. Last October, LGE was set for March 13 this year but GECOM later deferred it to continue its registration exercise. (G3)
