…GECOM says more rigid voter education initiative needed
Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield on Friday said that the Communities Ministry must take the blame for the low voters turn out at the recently concluded Local Government Elections. Lowenfield at a press briefing said that Communities Ministry shares responsibility for voter education. His comments came minutes after the Guyana Elections Commission announced that the LGE 2018 save a 36 per cent voters turn out.
Besides the Ministry, Lowenfield said the political parties and candidates had a role to play in making sure that the voters were properly educated on the elections.
“The constitution says we are responsible for the conduct of elections,” he said. “There is another department of government that is responsible for local government administration. And I think the education starts there, no doubt an all-round year process to keep the electorate offay with what is local government and
Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan
what it offers,” he said.
Meanwhile, also on Friday, during a joint press conference hosted by APNU and AFC components of the Government, both factions defended Communities Minister Ronald Bulkan.
The Government officials lashed back at GECOM claiming that the low turnout at the polls was as a result of LGE not being held in years under the previous administration.
Saying that Government is cognisant of the low voter turnout at the recent polls this year, Social Protection Minister Amna Ally explained that the administration is now seeking to re-educate citizens on the process, as they were not part of LGE for 22 years.
“This coalition Government reintroduced it (LGE) in 2016.
The people of this country have not yet grown accustomed to Local Government Elections.
It is a hard task for us, because it’s not…it’s a long time, 22 years versus three years to break in to the electorate (the fact) that this local democracy will benefit them,” Ally stated.
Ally further argued that no blame should be cast on Minister Bulkhan, as the Government “did what they had to do” in regard to voter education across Guyana.
According to her, the Minister did not need to go to the various Local Authority Areas (LAAs), as a number of persons were trained to spread the message on LGE.
Infrastructure Minister David Patterson also defended his colleague by saying that voters’ education was an “ongoing process”.
He added that voters’ education is not the responsibility of one ministry.
The last LGE was held in 2016, when a 47 per cent voter turnout was recorded. This year’s LGE saw a mere 36 per cent documented attendance.
