…says GECOM release
THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has noted the recent calls made via the media for the photographs of the various presidential candidates of the respective political parties, contesting the general and regional elections – 2011, to be published alongside the particulars of the relevant parties. “Accordingly, GECOM hereby states unequivocally that the laws governing the particulars to be printed on ballot papers do not permit the inclusion of photographs of presidential candidates or any other person,” GECOM said in a release yesterday.

Requirements of Ballot Papers for General Election
Section 39 of the Representation of the People Act (Cap. 1:03) states that every ballot paper shall contain, serially numbered on the left hand side, and in alphabetical order of the initial letters of the title of each List of Candidates, the initial letters, the title and symbol of each List of Candidates.

In the printing of the ballot paper, no letter, word or design can legally be printed on the face except the initial letters, the titles and symbols of the Lists of Candidates.  The initial letters of each List of Candidates shall be printed in large capitals and the full title of each List in small capitals.

Further, no rule (line/border) can be printed on the face of the ballot paper except the horizontal rules separating the particulars of the Lists of Candidates from one another and the vertical rules separating those particulars from the numbers on the left hand side, and from the spaces on the right where the symbols are shown, and separating the spaces for symbols from the spaces on their right where the vote is to be marked.
Requirements of Ballot Paper for Geographic Constituencies
Section 39A of the Representation of the People Act (Cap. 1:03) states that every ballot paper for a geographical constituency shall contain, serially numbered on the left hand side, and in alphabetical order of the initial letters of each list of a contesting party, the title and symbol of each contesting party.

In the printing of the ballot paper, no letter, word or design shall be printed on the face except the initial letters, the titles and the symbols of the contesting parties. The initial letters of each contesting party shall be printed in large capitals and the full title of each in small capitals.

The symbols shall be printed between parties’ particulars and the vertical rule separating the parties’ particulars from the spaces where the vote is to be marked.
In view of the foregoing, all concerned are invited to be guided accordingly.