Dear Editor,
DOES the Guyana Elections Commission have the authority to overrule the Constitution of Guyana? How many election officials/ officers/trainers have the power to discriminate against our citizens? Countless other questions traverse through my mind as I was told that I could not participate in the training provided for polling staff for the upcoming Local Government Elections.

I was invited by GECOM to the training provided for polling day staff and or officials on Saturday & Sunday– October 13th & 14th 2018– at the Berbice Educational Institute. However, being a born Seventh Day Adventist, I have the utmost respect for the Bible and believe in all its teachings which state: ‘Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work…’ Exodus 20:8-10. This is my religious belief. So I did not attend the first day of training. Upon arrival on the second, I was told by the registration clerk that they do not know if they could accommodate me because I missed the first day of training. I informed the clerk and the assistant that I could not have attended the training on the first day because it goes against my religion. I was then accompanied by one of my brothers. We were then told that there’s nothing that they could do about my situation because they called their supervisor who informed them that we are not entitled to join because we missed the first day of training. “Am I not a citizen of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana’ I asked, but I was greeted with words from the registration clerk ‘there is nothing we can do!’.

The Constitution clearly states ‘For the purposes [of] this Act, a person discriminates against another person if the first mentioned person makes, on any or the grounds mentioned in subsection (2), any distinction, exclusion or preference the intent or effect of which is to nullity or impair equality of opportunity or treatment in any employment or occupation. 4. (2) The grounds referred to in subsection (1) are- (a) race, sex, religion, colour…Any act or omission or any practice or policy that directly or indirectly results in discrimination against a person on the grounds referred to in subsection (2), is an act of discrimination regardless of whether the person responsible for the act or omission or the practice or policy intended to discriminate’ Cap 99:09, Prevention Of Discrimination, Laws Of Guyana. This is the Law; it is very embarrassing to know that even our election officers/officials/trainers are not aware of the laws that govern our country.

It is against the law for election officers/staff to discriminate against voters, but it is no big deal if they do the same thing to prospective polling staffs that are voters who also are citizens. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church accounts for almost 30,000 Guyanese citizens which is way more than the difference between the two major political parties that contested at the last general elections. Inside of the manual given to potential polling staff there is an extract of chapter. 28:03 Local Authorities Act (Elections) which states that no staff/official should solicit voters: whether or not to vote; yet these same people are inferring that we are not citizens and we don’t matter. How?

Regards
Political Student
University of Guyana
Berbice Campus