OVER 35,000 identification cards are still sitting at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) office, cards that belong to persons registered since 2008, some of whom are below voting age.However, according to the GECOM Chairman, Dr Steve Surujbally, voters eligible to participate at the upcoming May 11 General and Regional elections, do not necessarily need the identification cards to cast their votes.He explained that on E-Day, GECOM officials at all polling stations will be in possession of “folios” that will allow them to identify eligible voters assigned to vote at the respective polling stations.
The folios, Surujbally said, will include pictures and bio-data of registrants at each polling station.
The GECOM Chairman added that information included in the folios could be the basis of questions that are asked of the individuals without identification cards. “In addition to that you have the person standing right in front of you,” he said.
GECOM officials have repeatedly stressed that there are systems in place to ensure that no person votes in place of another individual, or votes more than once – measures similar to the ones used in past elections that were determined free and fair.
There are currently some 567,125 persons on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE), an increase from the 492,000 in 2011.
With the Commission’s ongoing Claims and Objections period scheduled to end on Sunday, GECOM has indicated that the Revised List of Electors (RLE), following the end of the ongoing Claims and Objections period, could possibly be completed by March 16, while the OLE is likely to be published by April 13.