THE ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) had last week reiterated its dissatisfaction with the public relations work done by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) during the ongoing Claims and Objections period, which began on August 4 and ends next week.

“The People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) remains dissatisfied with the poor public relations done by GECOM during the Claims and Objections period thus far,” the party said in a statement.

But Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO) Mr. Vishnu Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle that the GECOM Secretariat has been implementing a comprehensive public education strategy, which commenced prior to the Claims and Objections exercise and is still ongoing.

“We have also provided numbers for people to call if they need any clarification,” he said, adding that “people have been using the hotlines when they need information.”

In addition to having placed advertisements in the newspapers and on the radio and television, GECOM has distributed flyers and has employed the use of public address systems, especially in the new housing schemes, to emphasise the need for relevant electors to apply for transfers.

He explained that any low response by persons not coming forward to do transactions associated with the Claims aspect of the exercise could very well be because the 6th cycle of continuous registration has recently concluded, during which persons were afforded opportunities to apply for new registrations, change/corrections and transfers.

The DCEO explained that persons who have changed their addresses since being registered are required to apply for transfers, but this is not mandatory. He said that, notwithstanding the notices and advertisements published via the media and messages disseminated at grassroots level, relative to the need for relevant electors to apply for transfers during the ongoing Claims and Objections exercise, the response can be viewed as less than expected.

He maintained, however, that while it is GECOM’s responsibility to provide the opportunity for electors to apply for transfers, and to publicise this as widely as possible, the onus is on the relevant electors to so do. He said that, in this regard, political parties could play a role by encouraging their respective constituents to take the opportunity to apply for transfers, or conduct any other registration which may be applicable to them.

In respect to the allegation that persons who do not apply for transfers would be disenfranchised, Persaud assured that any person who is listed in the Official List of Electors is a bona fide elector, as that person is guaranteed the right to vote.

However, all voters will have to vote in the division/sub-division in which they are listed. So, if a voter has changed his or her address from one division/sub-division to another, he/she would have to go to the one where he/she is listed to vote, unless he/she applies for a transfer.

Persaud emphasised that “this Commission has (done), and will continue to do, everything within its mandate to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised.

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The DCEO explained that GECOM’s 27 permanent registration offices, established since 2005, and another added in 2013, are known to the persons in the 23 registration areas.

“The offices are known to the people in the respective registration areas. In our advertisements in the newspapers and on the radio and television, we have appealed for eligible voters to go to the registration offices responsible for their respective areas to apply for relevant registration transactions.

“Further, we have mobile registration units operating in selected communities throughout the country,” Persaud underscored.
“This is exactly what we did in 2005 when we first introduced continuous registration,” he added.

Objections can be made for persons who had died, or who do not meet the eligibility requirements for inclusion on the Official List of Electors. The Claims period will allow persons to do the following business, if needed: Register as a New Registrant, if he/she would be 18 years old or older and if his/her name is not on any of the GECOM Preliminary Voters’ Lists; Make changes and corrections to the information which is on the list for him/her; Move his/her particulars from one List to the List for the area where he/she is now living; Apply for a New ID Card to replace the one which was lost or misplaced; and Collect one’s National Identification Card, if this has not been done as yet, from the nearest GECOM office.

The claims exercise ends on Sunday, August 24, and the Objections period ends on Thursday, August 28. GECOM’s hotlines are 225-0278/9, 226-6557 or 223-9650.
Written By Vanessa Narine