Polling stations under GECOM’s control, not political parties – CEO warns

…after APNU agent disrupts voting at disciplined services voting day
Chief Elections Officer (CEO) of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Vishnu Persaud has emphasised that political stakeholders have no authority to stop the operations of a polling station. He made the comments in response to questions during a press conference on Monday. His remarks come on the heels of party agent of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Carol Smith-Joseph, in the presence of Opposition Leader, Aubrey Norton, disrupting poll day activities at a polling place on Disciplined Services voting day on August 22.

“Voting will stop because I will not allow the voting to take place because it is my interest and my party’s interest…,” Joseph can be heard saying in a video uploaded to social media by APNU. Joseph, who is currently facing charges for elections fraud at the 2020 general and regional elections had an issue with the position of the voting compartments, claiming that as a party agent, she was unable to properly observe the voter. One of her concerns was the party agent’s inability to see if a voter is using their cellphones in the voting compartment.
CEO Persaud contended that, “the operations of polling stations [are] GECOM’s responsibility, not that of any political stakeholder. No stakeholder has any authority to stop the operations of a polling station.”
GECOM had announced a ban on the use of phones in the voting booth. The policy aims to ensure the secrecy of the ballots and prevent potential vote-selling linked to photographing ballots and it was announced following concerns from stakeholders, particularly APNU. GECOM had said notices will be prominently displayed at the entrance and inside every polling station, warning that cell phones are prohibited and that polling officials will regularly remind voters in the queue to turn off their phones before entering. GECOM had also explained that voting compartments will be arranged to allow officials and accredited party agents to monitor for attempts to photograph ballots, while maintaining voter privacy and that designated desks or tables will be placed next to voting compartments for voters to place their phones before voting.
During the Disciplined Services voting, photos of ballots were circulating online. The CEO confirmed seeing these photos but noted that “we have not been able to determine how, where, or when that was taken”.
The CEO also explained that GECOM does not have the authority to stop a voter from breaching these rules. Instead, if a violation is observed, polling officials will record the incident and file a report with the police. The CEO noted, however, that the record may only be submitted after the elections.
Nevertheless, he committed to addressing the issue with the voting compartments by displaying pictorial examples as to how they should be set up at each polling place. CEO Persaud reminded that this is the first time such a measure has been implemented and therefore, it is a “testing ground for us”.
Nevertheless, he said based on the feedback received on the activities on D-Day, GECOM is hoping to improve on election day on September 1.
He noted that deputy returning officers would be required to ensure the rules with regards to the use of phones are applied.