SOME 7000 members of the Disciplined Services will be given a chance to exercise their democratic right tomorrow when they vote to elect a new government in the 2011 General and Regional Elections.
The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), in updating the media on its state of preparedness, has confirmed that there are 70 locations countrywide for the members of the Guyana Defence Force, Police Force, and the Prison Service to cast their ballots.
GECOM Chairman, Dr. Steve Surujbally assured reporters Friday at his Kingston offices that voting will start at 07:00hrs and end at 19:00hrs.
The Guyana Chronicle has been given to understand that members of the Guyana Fire Service and the City Constabulary are not included in this batch of lawmen, and as such will cast their votes on November 28 when other Guyanese will do so.
Meanwhile, the Commission reports that it is in receipt of all of the Ballot Papers required for voting at the 2011 General and Regional Elections. 
‘These are stored in a location which is highly fortified and protected under tight security,” Dr Surujbally said, adding that the 53 Ballot Papers for voting by Non-Resident Electors attached to Guyana’s Overseas Missions were dispatched a week ago in keeping with statutory requirements.
In other preparations, GECOM says it has been treating with applications for ‘Proxies’ at the level of the Electoral Districts since Monday, November 14, an exercise which ended on Friday.

Voting without ID
And, Dr Surujbally says that contrary to information being peddled in some quarters, those who are registered but not in possession of their identification cards will be allowed to vote.
He said that while National Identification Cards and valid passports will be used to verify the identity of electors who are listed in the 2011 Official List of Electors (OLE), there are other systems in place in the absence of those documents.
“If an elector is not in possession of his/her ID card, the Oath of Identity will be administered in accordance with Section Eight of the Representation of the People Act, Chapter 1:03. In this regard, the folio with electors’ photographs alongside their names and identification numbers, which will be in the possession of the presiding officer and the party agents at the respective polling stations, will be used to verify the identity of the voter,” he said.
ID cards issued prior to October 2009, he was at pains to explain, will not be accepted as a means of identification for voting at the elections. Similarly, persons not listed in the 2011 OLE will not be allowed to vote at the elections.
Dr. Surujbally has also sought to discredit media published advisories on what electors should wear on Polling Day, noting that there is no legal conditionality associated with attire.
He however advised that electors should be dressed decently when they turn up at their Polling Stations to cast their ballots.