– heavy turnout reported
VOTING in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) began on time yesterday at most of the polling stations spread across the region.
There was heavy voting early in the morning and by midday it was down to a trickle. But it picked up later as voters rushed to catch the 18:00 hrs closing of the polls.
Among those who were in Linden to observe the polling were Prime Minister Samuel Hinds and Prime Ministerial Candidate for the Alliance For Change, Raphael Trotman.
Minister Robeson Benn was also there, and was critical of the behaviour of some of the APNU supporters.
“We from the PPP/C are concerned that at some places there were APNU supporters calling out names at the places of poll, and with loud hailers, with symbols, with arm bands, with badges and other APNU paraphernalia within 500 feet of the places of poll, and this is a breach of the electoral law. We are protesting strongly about it because we believe it is voter intimidation and campaigning too on the day of poll,” Benn commented.

Throughout the region, it was noticeable from as early as 6:00 hrs that many were turning up to cast their ballots in Linden and its environs.
Visits to the mines saw, by midday, sparse voting as polling agents reported that there was early polling by the electorate in those areas.
When this newspaper visited the Coomacka Mines, residents who were eligible had just finished voting and were moving around, while others took time out on what was a holiday to ponder their next move for the day.
In Region 10, there are some 24,066 eligible voters, with 116 polling places, of which 93 are in Linden. Over on the west bank, at Wismar/ Christianburg, voting was also brisk early in the day.
Among the observer teams which were in the region were the Commonwealth and OAS units.