IN its latest update on preparations for national elections the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)said it is moving towards getting all of the political parties which would contest the 2011 General and Regional Elections to sign the Code of Conduct for Political Parties and to generally abide by the protocols documented therein. Accordingly, copies of the draft Code have been dispatched to 17 Political Parties comprising those currently represented in Parliament, and others which have indicated interest to contest the upcoming Elections, for perusal and comment.
Considering the advantage of having such an agreement in place, especially with respect to guarding against confrontational and vitriolic election campaign meetings/rallies/statements, GECOM is optimistic that the contesting Political Parties would acquiesce to the Code by way of signature.
GECOM looks forward to all of the contesting Parties signing the Code as a demonstration of their willingness to implement their respective election campaign strategies in ways that contributes to the maintenance of peace and tranquility throughout and beyond the Elections.
Provision of the RLE in an “ESHA” to the Parliamentary Political Parties.
Copies of the Revised List of Electors (RLE) on CD Rom were dispatched to 17 Political Parties comprising those currently represented in Parliament, and others which have indicated interest to contest the upcoming Elections. The data was provided in an Encrypted Stakeholder Application (ESHA) format to facilitate easy search/analysis. The CD Rom also contains summaries of the number of electors by Electoral Districts.
Public Information Campaign
GECOM’s Civic and Voter Education Division has developed a strategic plan for the production and publication of educational materials depicting various aspects of the election process. This activity, which involves the production of flyers, banners, posters, notices and infomercials, focuses on equipping electors with knowledge about how to cast their votes as well as providing other significant information about various aspects of the elections.
Training of Polling Day Staff
GECOM is moving further ahead with its nationwide series of two-day Training Sessions targeting personnel who will be employed to work throughout Guyana on Polling Day for the upcoming Elections. The third leg in the series was conducted simultaneously on Saturday, September 17-18, 2011 in Electoral Districts 2, 10, and part of 1, the latter being the Moruka sub-District. The first and second legs of this exercise which targeted East Coast Demerara and East Bank Demerara and Georgetown was conducted on September 3-4 and 10-11, 2011 respectively.