GECOM suspends continuous registration; adding new names to voters’ register

…as 2000+ new registrants captured in over month-long exercise

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has taken a decision to suspend continuous registration, while it adds the over 2000 persons captured in the exercise to the register of registrants in preparation for Local Government Elections (LGE).
This decision was communicated by GECOM Commissioner Sase Gunraj while giving an update to the media on Wednesday. In addition to the people who registered during continuous registration, Gunraj said, claims and objections also resulted in 500 applicants.
Gunraj said that the Commission had lengthy discussions on how to process the new registrants and concern was raised by Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud on whether they would be included into Register of Registrants.
“The preliminary voters’ list was extracted in the first or second week of February. And persons continued to register up until today (Wednesday), when the continuous registration exercise was suspended,” Gunraj said.
“Now the CEO raised the concern that those persons who were registered after the committal of the persons to the National Register of Registrants and who continue to be registered up to today would not have been included as qualified to vote at the qualifying date at the upcoming Local Government Elections.”
According to the Commissioner, they were, therefore tasked, with finding a way to include those persons in the register, from which the voters’ list will be drawn. Gunraj noted that the lifting of this suspension will be discussed further at the level of the commission.
He also emphasised that GECOM was well within its rights to have taken this decision. According to Gunraj, “everyone conceded that GECOM eminently has within its plentitude of powers the legal authority, to do so.”
Continuous registration had started on January 3, 2023, while the Claims and Objections period was scheduled to last from February 13 to February 22. Additionally, 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 were set for June 12 instead. (G3)