By Ravin Singh

THE Ministry of Communities has expressed disappointment with the low voter turnout for the Tuesday’s balloting of the disciplined services. In a letter to the editor of this newspaper, the ministry while thanking all members of the disciplined services who voted in Tuesday’s historic local government polls, and as well as the “hard-working staff of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)” said it is however disappointed about multiple reports of a low turnout.

“The Ministry of Communities sincerely believes in the truth of Article 12 of the Constitution which states, “Local Government by freely elected representatives of the people is an integral part of the democratic organisation of the State.” In other words, in the absence of functional local government there can be no real democracy. And citizens will agree that democratic renewal at the grassroots is much needed in Guyana.”
The ministry added: ”if you do not vote, other people who vote will choose your community representatives, and you will have no voice in the decision-making process. The importance of having a voice in decisions that directly affect you cannot be overstated.” According to the ministry councillors elected by the people who vote will make decisions on what bridges and roads to repair or build; they will decide where playgrounds are to be constructed; they will be responsible for garbage collection, cleaning of drains and parapets, provision of healthcare services, pest control, noise-nuisance control, and all other aspects of community life. “Can anyone, therefore, afford not to vote?” the ministry asked in its statement.
The ministry further stated that Guyanese have not had the opportunity to cast a ballot since 1994. “These current elections will go down in history as the pivotal moment when Guyanese took power into their own hands; the moment when citizens took control of their own destinies. The remainder of Guyanese will have an opportunity to be part of history on March 18, by going to your designated polling place and casting a ballot. You cannot afford to miss this unprecedented opportunity. The Ministry of Communities encourages you, again, to make use of your vote. Your vote is your voice.”
Smooth process
Meanwhile, the first phase of voting at the LGE was unanimously declared as a “smooth process” by not only the country’s elections regulatory body, but participating groups and political parties as well. Two decades after it was last held, Guyanese will go to the polls next Friday to elect new local government representatives. When contacted for a comment after Tuesday’s vote a confident Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, noted that the process had been “a smooth one.”
He said that while the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) was still in the process of ascertaining the percentage of voter turnout, it was safe to day that the day was incident-free. “I am happy that we have successfully completed this phase of Local Government Elections 2016,” Lowenfield said.
But while he deemed it to be a success, the opposition People’s Progressive Party had earlier in the day raised concerns about a “significant number” of electors presenting themselves without any form of identification in order to vote.
According to the party, early reports from some stations had suggested that up to half of the voters were showing up without their National Identification (ID) Cards. “When asked to explain this significant anomaly, the information given, in the case of Police Force members at Brickdam, was that they had been ‘briefed’ to show up with their ID Cards,” PPP said in a statement.
And although this claim was not rejected by the CEO, he sought to clarify that voting without an ID card is provided for in the law. “Yes I can say that ranks did show up without their identification cards, and we did speak about the use of identification card for voting at these elections. But it was a matter of choice for them and it was within the ambits of the law. We understand the concerns of the party but nothing is wrong with ranks voting without IDs, it is provided for in the law and we can’t change the law” Lowenfield said.
Agreeing with the CEO that the process was indeed a “smooth one” was a running First Past the Post candidate, Mark Benschop. A political activist too. Benschop, who is leading Team Benschop noted that there was nothing unusual or alarming about the day’s activities to suggest that anything had been compromised. And the successful execution of this leg of the election, he said, was credited to the elections regulatory body that did a “fine job.”
But his concern was far from that of the PPP. Though he fancies the chances of his candidates at the polls, Benschop was disappointed at the turnout of voters. “The Joint Services have had a very poor turnout which I estimate was under 40 per cent” he said, lamenting that this represents less than half of the eligible persons who could vote.
And while he was satisfied overall with the way the elections were held, similar views were expressed by Holbert Knights, Chairman of Bartica Independent Green Alliance (BIGA). Speaking with this publication, he explained that things had been quiet in Bartica, since there were only three polling stations in that area and most of the voters had not been registered within that vicinity. Nevertheless, he expressed the view that the day’s proceedings were relatively quiet and that there was nothing unusual about the exercise.
And in an almost repetitive fashion, similar sentiments were echoed by the elections campaign manager of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Leonard Craig. AFC is one of the major political parties comprising the APNU+AFC coalition. Like those who spoke before him, Craig lauded GECOM on the successful completion of this phase of the elections, noting that all administrative processes employed by GECOM seems to have been adequate. “We believe the elections went smoothly and that the concern raised by the PPP was not sufficiently large enough to raise concern” the campaign manager said.