GECOM apologises for inadequate facilities for PWDs at some polling stations

Despite repeated recommendations over the years from various stakeholders, several Persons With Disability (PWDs) were unable to freely access their polling stations to cast their ballots at Monday’s General and Regional Elections – something which the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has apologised for.
“I will start…of course rightfully so, to really apologise to the members of the disability community,” GECOM’s Public Relations (PR) Officer Yolanda Ward, stated at a press conference on Monday evening after the closure of polls.

She pointed out that while this is an issue that the Elections Commission continues to face, it is however bounded by legal provisions which prescribes that GECOM assigns voters to polling stations that are within their respective Divisions or Sub-divisions. But in doing so, persons were unavoidably assigned to polling stations that were not easily accessible or lacked provisions like ramps for PWDs.
“What we’ve done is to ensure that we ask Presiding Officers as much as possible to offer the kind of assistance necessary to help those persons to cast their ballots,” Ward stated. Meanwhile, during a late-night briefing with media operatives, General Secretary (GS) of the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Dr Bharrat Jagdeo said that this is something GECOM needs to address for future elections. Jagdeo, who serves as Vice President (VP) in the incumbent PPP/C Government, indicated that he received a pictures from a number of persons throughout Monday’s polling day of either their elderly relatives or those with a disability having to be carried up steep stairs to access polling stations in order to cast their votes. “They needed help…particularly when you go in buildings that are multiple storied and without an elevator. So, I think in the future, we should examine that carefully,” the PPP/C GS emphasised. Prior to the 2020 General and Regional Elections, the Guyana Council for Persons with Disabilities had made a number of recommendations to GECOM aimed at enhancing the voting process for PWDs. There are no policies in Guyana for persons with a disability to be allowed to vote independently from the general population – something which the Council is trying to change.
“All persons with disabilities, all we want is to live independent lives…we should have access to the polling stations and vote independently. I am sure with continued advocacy, that will happen for the next elections because we know it’s not going to happen this time around,” Coordinator of the Guyana Council of Organisation for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD), Ganesh Singh, had said at a voters’ education campaign for persons with disabilities back in February 2020.
Meanwhile, several of the international observer groups that monitored those elections five years ago had recommended in their respective reports systems to be put in place to adequately facility PWDs to freely access polling stations to vote.
In fact, during a briefing with reporters on Monday, Head of the Organisation of American States Electoral Observation Mission (OAS EOM), Bruce Golding, had noted that GECOM should avoid having polling stations on the upper floor of buildings being used as polling places.
“At some of the locations that we went, where polling stations were on the upper floor, persons who were physically unable to climb stairs would have had to be lifted up because there would not have been any other means for them to access the polling station. I think it’s important, wherever possible, to avoid locating polling stations on an upper floor. If it is at all possible, keep those polling stations on the lower floor because it is a real problem for disabled persons,” Golding stated.
According to the OAS Chief Observer, however, he did not observe any PWD experiencing any difficulties on Elections Day. In fact, he said they were given priority.
“In other words, they didn’t have to stay in a line. They were allowed to go straight up to the head of the line… I saw one person in wheelchair for example, once they arrived, there was a supervisor outside who allowed them to go straight to the head of the line,” the head of the OAS Mission noted.