Revised List of Electors
The Secretariat of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is currently engaged with work associated with the finalisation and printing of the Revised List of Electors (RLE) as a sequel to the recently concluded Claims and Objections Exercise for the upcoming elections. Upon completion, the RLE will be posted at two conspicuous locations within each electoral Division/Sub-Division for public scrutiny and electronic copies of the RLE will be shared with political parties.

Multiple Registrations
During both phases of the Claims and Objections exercises for the upcoming General and Regional Elections, GECOM has established the occurrence of multiple registrations.  This was determined through the electronic cross-matching of the fingerprints of every new applicant for registration against the fingerprints of existing registrants who are listed in the national Register of Registrants (NRR).

Every case of multiple registrations was investigated by the GECOM Secretariat.  This activity revealed that some of the cases of multiple registrations were unintentional, while others were found to have been committed deliberately.   Accordingly, GECOM would apply the methodology for treating with multiple registrations towards ensuring that no person is listed more than once in the NRR.

The cases of deliberate multiple registrations will be handed over to the Guyana Police Force for investigation and possible prosecution and the names and addresses of the persons involved will be published in the print media.

Questionable Source Documents
A significant number of the cases of multiple registrations involved one person applying for registration twice, at the same or different venues, using two birth certificates with different information.

The use of two birth certificates with different information for registration has consequences that impact on the integrity of GECOM’s National Register of Registrants, as does the registration of a person with a passport which was issued on the basis of the provision of a questionable birth certificate.

In a move to address this problematic, GECOM has written Mr. Clement Rohee, Minister of Home Affairs, requesting that he arrange a meeting involving himself (Minister Rohee) representatives from the relevant Departments of his Ministry, Dr. Steve Surujbally – Chairman of GECOM and other senior representatives of GECOM.  GECOM has undertaken to present exemplars for all categories relative to glaring cases of inconsistencies regarding source documents.

Accreditation of Local Observers
GECOM has accredited the executive members of the Electoral Assistance Bureau (EAB) as local observers.  Prior to this being done, Dr. Surujbally had met with Fr. Malcolm Rodrigues and Mr. Abbas Mancey, Project Director of the Bureau and had emphasized the need for compliance with the protocols enshrined in the Terms of Reference for Local/Domestic Observers.  Further, Dr. Surujbally had stressed the need for the EAB to (i) work in direct collaboration with Mr. Boodoo insofar as testing of the Voters List and the accreditation of Local Observers are concerned, and (ii) consulting with the Commission before making pronouncements on any matter relevant to the preparations for and conduct of the elections.

GECOM has written the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) informing it that the time is now opportune for the union to meet with GECOM formally to commence the process which would culminate with the GPSU being accredited.  The GPSU had written the Commission indicating the Union’s interest in being accredited as a Local Observer for the upcoming General and Regional Elections.