…similar sentiments expressed by opposition APNU & AFC
THE governing People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) is dissatisfied with the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) efforts in promoting voter education, taking into account the high percentage of first time voters who will be casting their ballots  at the  November 28 general and regional elections.
“We believe the onus is on GECOM to do much more in this regard, in terms of voter’s education. We know we have a very young voter role this time. Persons below 40 accounting for close to 56 percent of the total electorate, and persons who are below 25, will represent 21-22 percent,” explained PPP/C Executive member and campaign manager, Mr. Robert Persaud.
Speaking at a media briefing at the party’s Freedom House headquarters yesterday, Persaud announced that,  in its continuing bid to ensure that young voters are properly prepared to exercise their democratic right on election day, the PPP/C has prepared “dummy ballots” for the purpose of education.
He said, “These replicate what the ballot will look like; it’s not the ballot, but it is aimed at supporting national efforts to have young people involved and engaged in the process of elections. So we have made it quite clear in the ‘dummy ballot’, to show people how to conduct themselves, to show that it is a very simple, basic exercise, but it is also one which we should not ignore.”
According to Persaud, many young persons still do not recognise that they are required to vote twice on one ballot sheet, once for national and then for regional elections; and further, some are not clear on where they should place their ‘x’ in support of their party of choice.
And so he appealed to GECOM to “enhance, accelerate, and expand” its voter education programme, to cater to the needs of the young members of the electorate.
“We are encouraging voters to exercise their franchise and we hope that GECOM’s efforts in this regard will be stepped up,” he said.
As to what measures GECOM can utilise to accomplish this, Persaud suggested that they can perhaps use the mass media.
He added, “We certainly take the issue of voter education very seriously throughout the length and  breadth of Guyana; and we certainly hope that it will add to  the objective of having free, fair and open elections.” 

Meanwhile, prime ministerial candidate of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, is reported yesterday to have said his coalition has not yet discussed the matter but he has observed that GECOM’s voter education “doesn’t seem to me like an active enough programme.”
According to a report from Demerara Waves online news, he described the 2011 programme as “fairly limp” compared to previous elections.
“A lot more has to be done by showing people how to vote, instructing people what to do when they get into the polling station and they need to do so in an aggressive way,” Roopnaraine told Demwaves.
The Alliance For Change (AFC) warned that if the Elections Commission does not put in place a proper voter education programme, there could be chaos on polling day. One major area of concern, the party says, is the inability of an uneducated public to locate their names on voters’ lists where there are several geo-alpha splits.
“You can get a large amount of spoilt votes because persons are not familiar with the process of voting and registrants may not know where to vote. Without voter education they will have mass confusion on polling day itself,” the AFC’s David Patterson reportedly told demwaves.com.
While acknowledging that there have been some newspaper advertisements, Patterson pointed out that not very many persons read that medium. He appeared to favour a lot more television advertisements.
The AFC executive member, who is his party’s point-man on GECOM matters, also noted that the lack of voter education is a major problem because of the large number of young voters.