-during re-opening of claims and objections exercise
HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon said information by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), reaching Cabinet one-day after the commencement of the current Claims and Objections exercise, revealed that a significant number of people have been registered.
As Government continues its review of GECOM’s preparation for the hosting of the national elections, available figures from stakeholders indicate that approximately 5,000 Guyanese would now be given the opportunity to get registered.
“Cabinet noted the timeline of the exercise, consisting of the drop-dead date of August 4th for the end of the Claims component exercise and similarly August 7th for the completion of the Objections part of that exercise. GECOM’s mobilisation and its field activity would also continue to be monitored,” Dr. Luncheon said.

“The report to Cabinet one day after the commencement of the exercise did reveal from scrutineers quite a significant response for registration being done on the first day of the Claims’ period,” Dr. Luncheon remarked.
GECOM re-opened the exercise last July 25 for a duration of 13 days, with the Claims’ aspect running for ten days. The elections’ constitutional due date of December 28 will therefore not be hindered.
Government has assured that adequate funds would be provided to conduct the exercise, which would provide a window of opportunity for bona fide citizens to become registered, and be guaranteed their constitutional right to vote.
The exercise involves the re-establishment of temporary offices targeting the entire country; the re-hiring of temporary staff posted at the various offices; the deployment of Mobile Registration Units to far-flung hinterland and riverine communities; the accreditation of scrutineers to monitor the registration process; and the advertisement of the conduct of the exercise.
The registration process is no different from that which obtained during the earlier ‘Claims and Objections’ period, in that persons must present either their original birth certificates or valid passports upon presenting themselves to be registered.
Their residency status will be verified by visits to their given addresses, and all fingerprints captured during the re-opened exercise will be cross-matched with those already in GECOM’s possession to check for multiple registration.
Provision is made for scrutineers to monitor the entire registration process at the field level throughout the country, and the particulars of all the newly-registered persons will be posted in Supplementary Lists for public scrutiny.