PSC ‘disappointed’ at low voter turnout at LGE 2023

Port Kaituma voters after casting their ballots for LGE 2023

In commending the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on the successful conduct of the Local Government Elections last Monday, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) has also shared its disappointment at the low voter turnout.
The PSC, as a GECOM-accredited Local Observer, lauded all the contestants for their participation in a peaceful and successful election. However, citizens were urged to show up at the next elections, and participate in the process of electing their leaders.
The Commission reflected in a statement on Thursday, “The Commission was disappointed at the low turn-out of voters at these elections, and takes this opportunity to encourage every citizen to register and exercise their democratic right to participate in Local Government Elections and, importantly, at the next General and Regional Elections.”
A Command Center was set up to serve as a central point of communication for observers across the country. The Commission, in collaboration with AMCHAM Guyana Inc and other representational bodies, witnessed the voting process at polling stations across the country. Reports were received from membership across all the regions where elections were conducted.
The PSC concluded, “The Commission also observed the counting and tabulation processes, and found no significant anomalies during the entire process, apart from, in some cases, the absence of clearly visible signage to assist voters in identifying their polling stations”.
While data on the country’s voter turnout is not yet available, GECOM had disclosed that 47 per cent of eligible ranks from the Disciplined Services had cast their ballots. These ranks had voted earlier on June 12.
Executive Director of the PSC, Ian Chung, had told <<Guyana Times>> earlier this week that the smooth process can be credited to the well-trained staff of GECOM. He added, “We found that the staff of GECOM are very knowledgeable of the process. They’re following the process to the T. If there’s any discrepancy, the Presiding Officer is taking control of that. At the end of the day, we’ve had no significant reports.”
The idea was to have a full overview of what was taking place, and real-time monitoring of all developments. In the end, a report would be curated and presented, documenting what transpired.
A total of 10 observer groups were accredited this year to provide oversight on Local Government Elections 2023, namely: the High Commission of Canada; the Embassy of the United States; the British High Commission; the Delegation of the European Union; the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES); AmCham Guyana; the Private Sector Commission (PSC); the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities; the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), and the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU).
As stated in section 86(1)(b) and section 93(1) of the Local Authorities (Elections) Act, the Elections Commission is empowered to appoint local observers for the purpose of observing local government elections. The manner in which local observers are approved is detailed in section 4E of the Representation of the People Act, Cap. 1:03, which replaced section 20 of the Election Laws (Amendment) Act 2000.