Voting in Region Six started off very slow at Monday’s Local Government Elections (LGE), but not without hiccups.
Polling agents who were initially not allowed to enter the Polling Station at at Liverpool
On the Corentyne at Liverpool in the Hogsty-Landcaster Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC), it was reported that the Returning Officer (RO) refused to allow replacement polling agents for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) saying that GECOM had instructed that replacement polling agents would not be accepted. However, after much discussion, the agents were eventually allowed to take up their positions at 06:45h. The Party had to make contact with the Chief Elections officer Keith Lowenfield in order to get the matter resolved.
Speaking with Guyana Times, the PPP/C’s Deputy Agent for the NDC, Suban Ally said it was very disappointing not knowing what transpired in their absence.
Meanwhile, there were reports that an elderly woman was denied the right to vote at Port Mourant after her wheelchair could not get into the polling station.
While this was ongoing, the pace of voting was picking up at Number 56 Primary where four polling stations were located.
There was a hive of activity at Whim, with both the PPP/C and the Alliance For Change (AFC) making all efforts to get voters out and many of them were responding.
At the last LGE, PPP/C took most of the seats in the Whim-Bloomfield NDC.
The AFC has since then been trying to pull most of the support from that community, since the Prime Minister is from that village.
Some residents of Whim recently sought the intervention of the High Court to have their names removed from an AFC list of backers claiming that they were tricked into signing AFC backers’ forms.
By noon, the voter turnout was below 20 per cent.
New Amsterdam has a voting population of 14,063, Rose Hall Town 4198 and Corriverton 8468. The region has 92,801 voters registered on GECOM’s list.
The two NDCs are the Plegtanker-Koortbradt NDC on the East Bank of Berbice and the Wyburg-Caracas NDC in West Canje.
Peter Tambron, an A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) constituency candidate in Plegtanker-Koortbradt, told this publication that the process went smoothly. Many of the voters waited until about 10:00h before they went to vote.
However, first-time voter at the LGE level, Zamal Hussain, who is also the PPP Regional Supervisor, said he was disappointed to be part of the polls.
He explained that the NDC status was imposed on the community for the first time in Guyana’s 52-year history as an independent state.
“This was not about consultation democracy; this is about imposed democracy on the people of Caracas/Wyburg. I think many of the persons in this area don’t want the Local Authority. They want local democracy to prevail, this area was developed by the people of the area,” Hussain added.
Essequibo Coast
Like the rest of the country, the Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) also recorded a low voter turnout on Monday. A visit to polling stations in the region confirmed reports of voters trickling in.
However, at Queenstown village, PPP/C agents complained that they were not being treated equally by GECOM staff at the polling stations. The agents said that they were asked to observe 80 feet from the polling area while candidates from the APNU were allowed to stay.
However, the tranquillity of the Cinderella County was disturbed about 17:15h when a carload of persons went to some female PPP/C supporters at Danielstown village and reportedly hurled threats at them. Reports reaching this newspaper stated that some PPP/C supporters, who were under a bus shed, helping persons to find their names on the voters list before they voted were approached by the car and an occupant threatened them that if they continued, the Police would be called to arrest them. The women then shouted for help and some male villagers started walking towards the car, which immediately drove away.
The women told Guyana Times that they would not be intimidated by the persons in the car since they are known People’s National Congress troublemakers.
