THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has appointed 10 Returning Officers (ROs) and 10 Election Clerks (ECs), in another major step forward in the preparation for the 2011 General and Regional Elections. The ROs and ECs took their respective Oaths of Office on Saturday last in front of Mr. Gocool Boodoo, Chief Election Officer, at a simple ceremony at the Command Centre of the GECOM Secretariat in Georgetown.

The Returning Officers, who were respectively appointed to Guyana’s 10 Electoral Districts and
who took the Oath of Office (one Returning Officer to One Electoral District), are Mr. Mohamed Arjoon – Electoral District No. 1; Mr. Budhnarine Ramnarine -Electoral District No. 2; Mr. Farley Sobers – Electoral District No. 3; Mr. Jaigobind Mohabir – Electoral District No. 4; Mr. Inderjeet Persaud – Electoral District No. 5; Mr. Alfa Mohamed – Electoral District No. 6; Mr. Harry Persaud – Electoral District No. 7. Mr. Dwayne Marco – Electoral District  No. 8; Mr. Ken Grant Electoral District No. 9; and Ms. Ernestine Barker-LoGan Electoral District No. 10.

According to a statement from GECOM’s Public Relations Officer Mr. Vishnu Persaud, the ROs are tasked with multiple responsibilities, all aimed at contributing to the holding of the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner.
Their responsibilities include, inter alia:
** Being responsible to the Chief Election Officer for the proper conduct of the poll within his/her polling Districts;
** Maintaining close liaison and coordination with the Chief Election Officer and the Elections Secretariat;
** Reporting to the Chief Election Officer through the Deputy Chief Election Officer and the Assistant Chief Election Officer;
** Supervising the work of the Deputy Returning Officers, Election Clerks and all other Election Officials within his/her Polling District;
** Administering the Oath of Office to all staff members before they perform any function under the Representation of the People Act, Cap. 1:03;
** Assisting the Training Instructors with the training of Polling Day Officials.

The ROs are also required to ascertain the total votes cast in favour of each List of Candidates in their respective Polling Districts. This is done by adding up the votes recorded in favour of the respective lists in accordance with the relevant Statements of Poll. Immediately thereafter, they are required to publicly declare the votes recorded for each List of Candidates.

The Electoral Officers, who were respectively appointed to Guyana’s 10 Electoral Districts and
who took the Oath of Office (one Returning Officer to One Electoral District), are Ms. Mary Brown – Electoral District No. 1; Ms. Melissa Benn -Electoral District No. 2; Mr. Hemindra Kowlessar – Electoral District No. 3; Mr. Dexter Patterson – Electoral District No. 4; Ms. Simone Saul – Electoral District No. 5; Ms. Coreen Kum-Rose – Electoral District No. 6; Mr. Linden Adams – Electoral District No. 7. Ms. Shaunielle Jourdan – Electoral District No. 8; Ms. Immaculate Casimero – Electoral District No. 9; and Ms. Carol Browne – Electoral District No. 10.

An Election Clerk would be required to carry out all duties and responsibilities of the RO since, should the need arise, he/she will act in the place of  the RO. He/she is generally expected to:
* Provide general assistance to the Returning Officer;
* Function as Office Manager;
* Supervise the arrangements for pre-poll distribution and the post-poll collection, transportation and return of election equipment and documents, etc; and
* Perform any other duties related to the conduct of elections as assigned by the Returning Officer.
Witnessing the ROs and ECs taking their Oaths of Office were Dr. Steve Surujbally, Chairman of GECOM, Mr. Calvin Benn – Deputy Chief Election Officer, and Mr. Keith Lowenfield- Assistant Chief Election Officer.