GECOM extends ‘Objections’ period in preparation for LGE

As it continues with preparation for the holding of the long-overdue Local Government Elections (LGE) in June this year, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has extended the objections aspect of the Claims and Objections exercise to allow for proper examination of the names on the list.
The previous Claims and Objections period was scheduled to last from February 13 to February 22.
But according to GECOM in a statement on Friday, “Acknowledging the need to allow persons to properly scrutinise the supplementary lists with those names, the Commission decided to extend the duration of the objections aspect of the Claims and Objections exercise until March 2, 2023.”
To this end, persons are encouraged to scrutinise the supplementary lists posted in each Constituency/Local Authority Area (LAA) and to object to the inclusion of the name(s) of any person whom they suspect may not be eligible for inclusion on the list.
Further, GECOM also indicated that a decision was taken at Wednesday’s statutory meeting to suspend the Cycle of Continuous Registration with effect from February 24 until further notice.
The exercise commenced on January 3, 2023 and was scheduled to conclude on May 31, 2023. However, this decision was necessary to facilitate the inclusion of all eligible persons who have registered thus far, under Continuous Registration, in the respective Register of Voters (RoV) for the upcoming Local Government Elections.
The seven-member Commission, after deliberations, ultimately decided to suspend the registration exercise based on a proposal and advice submitted by the Chief Elections Officer, Vishnu Persaud, in order to ensure the inclusion of all eligible persons in the final Register of Voters.
GECOM noted that in order to facilitate the inclusion of those persons in the RoV, the Commission would have to compile supplementary lists by constituency and post them for public scrutiny.
During an update to the media following Wednesday’s meeting, Government-nominated GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj had revealed that over 2000 persons were captured thus far in the exercise to the register of registrants in preparation for the Local Government polls.
In addition to the people who registered during Continuous Registration, Gunraj said, claims and objections also resulted in 500 applicants.
GECOM had announced it would 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 was required to make a claim to entry on/or before February 19. There was a requirement that persons objecting to a voter during this period could only do so if they were in the same constituency list as the voter.
Last week, Local Government and Regional Development Minister Nigel Dharamlall set Monday, June 12, 2023, as the date for the holding of the much-anticipated and long overdue LGE in Guyana.
Section 35 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03 empowers the Local Government Minister to appoint a day for the elections.
The previous week, GECOM Chairperson, Retired Justice Claudette Singh had written the Local Government Minister asking him to set May 22 this year for the conduct of the local polls. Minister Dharamlall responded to the GECOM Chair and indicated that the LGE was set for June 12 instead.
Now that a date has been set by the Local Government Minister, the Elections Commission will have to determine when Nominations Day will be held.
GECOM has already reopened the process to provide a further opportunity for political parties, groups, or individuals wanting to contest the upcoming LGE to submit their applications for approval of their symbols by March 1, 2023.
Section 48 (1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, provides that all political parties, voluntary groups, and individuals who are desirous of contesting Local Government Elections are required to submit a symbol for approval by the Guyana Elections no later than the 21st day before Nomination Day.
LGE, which is constitutionally due every two years, was last held in 2018.
At the November 2018 Local Government polls, the then PPP/C Opposition had secured 52 of the 80 Local Authority Areas (LAAs). This followed the holding of the LGE in 2016, during which the PPP/C also claimed the majority of the LAAs.