Preparations underway for Disciplined Services vote

LGE 2018

…more intense meetings planned for upcoming week

Preparations are underway for members of the Disciplined Forces to cast their ballots on November 2, 2018, ahead of the rest of electors, who are scheduled to go to the polls 10 days after when Guyana decides who to elect to several Local Authority Areas, after the staging of its constitutionally due Local Government Elections.
Speaking with Guyana Times on Saturday afternoon, Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Yolanda Warde, confirmed that all preparatory works are on track for the members of the Disciplined Services to cast their vote early.
“We are on schedule with respect to all of the processes. We have had several engagements over the last few weeks with the heads and leadership of all of the bodies which constitute the Disciplined Services to discuss the plans for the upcoming LGE,” Warde explained.
She said the leadership of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Prison Service would have been adequately briefed so as to ensure that there is no confusion or misinformation about critical aspects of the preparations and systems to be followed before, during and after the members of their body cast their ballots.
The PRO, when questioned by this newspaper as to whether there was a special voter education programme that would be rolled for the Disciplined Services members, responded in the negative. She explained that apart from the general work being undertaken by GECOM, it was the Commission’s expectation that the top brass of the Disciplined Services would then pass on critical portions of information to the supervisory and lower levels.
“They are adequately appraised,” Warde insisted, before confirming that all of the information requested by the three-part body has been divulged accordingly. She also stated that more meetings and follow up engagements are scheduled in the coming days.
Warde’s comments come on the heels of criticisms from Chief Commissioner for the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) at GECOM, Bibi Shadick, who had argued that there is an information blackout generally at the Commission about a number of issues including the preparations being undertaken for the Disciplined Services vote.
Shadick had stated that the PPP and its Commissioners were still awaiting information on the sites to be used by the Commission to facilitate the November 2 vote. That aside, she was adamant that if the PPP nominated Commissioners do not request specific pieces of information then they will not be told willingly unless it is something being discussed that emanated in the press.
Approximately 7500 or more individuals are likely to vote in this year’s LGE. This figure represents an increase from those that voted back in 2016. Those registered to vote in 2016 included 4693 from the Guyana Police Force (GPF); 357 from the Guyana Prison Service (GPS); and 1928 from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).
Ballot stations for the Disciplined Services ranks are located at their places of duty or deployment. These include 19 locations for the GDF, five locations for the GPS and four for the GPF.
After arrival in Guyana on March 1, 2016, the ballots were extracted, sorted and enveloped in accordance to schedule.
Traditionally, each ballot sheet for a member of the Disciplined Forces is placed into two envelopes. The outer envelope bears the elector’s name along with the District and Local Authority Area in which he/she is required to vote. The inner envelope bears the District, Local Authority Area and the Constituency in which he/she is required to vote.
Ballot boxes will be returned to the GECOM after voting, and kept in the secured custody of the Chief Elections Officer under guard by members of the GPF.
The ballots cast by members of the Disciplined Forces will be sorted by the Local Authority and Constituency to be dispatched to the respective Returning Officers for intermixing on Election Day, November 12. The polling stations identified for the intermixing of the Disciplined Forces ballots will be gazetted. (Michael Younge)