‘Vote whoever you want, but get registered first’
New GECOM Chairman, Justice (Ret'd) Claudette Singh, SC, CCH
New GECOM Chairman, Justice (Ret'd) Claudette Singh, SC, CCH

– GECOM Chair tells countrymen at opening of new offices in Berbice

“In order to vote, you must be registered,” she reasoned. “That is your first task; you must be registered before you exercise your constitutional right to vote,” said newly- appointed Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Justice (Ret’d) Claudette Singh, SC, CCH.

GECOM Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield

The occasion was the commissioning of two spanking new offices with every conceivable modern convenience at Corriverton and Whim respectively in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), to serve residents in the Central and Upper Corentyne catchment areas.

A Berbician by birth and the first woman in annals of Guyana’s history to have ever held that position, Justice Singh said it gave her immense pleasure to have been able to perform her first engagement in her home County.

Having thus established that they share a common bond, she seized the opportunity to drive home in the minds of those of her countrymen present at the commissioning of the facilities, which cost GECOM a combined total of $51M, that while the Constitution, which is the Supreme Law of the land, gives them the right to vote, exercising that right comes with a catch.


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The newly-constructed GECOM registration office at Whim

“It is a democratic right. You are free to exercise that right to vote; you are free to exercise that right for any party and candidate of your choice,” Justice Singh said, adding: “But that very Constitution says something else: It says that in order to vote, you must be registered. So you must be registered before you exercise your constitutional right.”
She also made the point that there was very good reason why GECOM has gone the extra mile to ensure that there was not just one but two offices to serve them in Central and Upper Corentyne.

“We are providing the service to all persons to get registered, so, you will urge your friends, family and relatives, so they can exercise their democratic right to vote by the Constitution,” Justice Singh said. “No law can be inconsistent with it; any law inconsistent with the Constitution will be struck down by the courts. That is the Supreme Law, and we are governed by the Constitution. So you will be obeying the Constitution when you register, and when you do your voting,” she added.

Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Keith Lowenfield went one better. He seized the opportunity to remind his audience of the mission statement and the vision of GECOM.

The one at Whim

“We are constitutionally responsible for the conduct of all elections in Guyana, and our Commission is responsible for the supervision of general, regional and local elections; that is our mission,” he stressed, adding:
“Our presence is to ensure that the Mission, which is enshrined in the Commission and all our offices and officers across Guyana understand fundamentally what that mission is.
“We have a vision, and that is to maintain and further develop the capacity for us, as GECOM permanent staffers, to conduct credible registration. That is to say, every Tom, Dick and Harry who is a resident in Guyana must be registered in keeping with the particular Order…”

Parliament in 2005, by way of an ammendment to the National Registration Act, provided for the establishment of registration offices such as the two that were commissioned on Friday, so that persons in the areas they’re located can be registered, once eligible.

Regional Chairman David Armogan, who was was slated to speak at the commissioning, was a ‘no show’.

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