HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon Wednesday disclosed Cabinet’s green-lighting of a contract worth in excess of $35.2M for the procurement of “sensitive materials” for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM). 

The materials include ballot boxes, security seals, paper, and such like, Luncheon informed at his post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, in Georgetown. Cabinet has also given its no-objection to another GECOM contract worth $20M for the acquisition of Duracell batteries.
Pressed on the reason to acquire more ballot boxes, Luncheon explained: “One of the realities is that the challenges to the results of the general and regional elections demand the preservation of evidence, and it is in this context that somewhere in Guyana, presumably in the coffers or under the security of GECOM, are ballot boxes filled with ballots cast and heavens know how far back.
With regard to this year’s budget, Luncheon opined that the commitment to general and regional elections may have an influence on its presentation. “I would want to recognise the use of the word ‘may’ because it is the President’s call and indeed, if the dissolution of parliament were to take place after the constitutionally mandated drop dead date for the presentation of a budget, then there shall surely be a budget presented.
“If, however, the dissolution were to take place before that, then I cannot see how possible it would be for a budget to be laid by the constitutionally mandated date, save and except extraordinary efforts are made to bring to the attention of the National Assembly a budget before the dissolution, an option that we should not exclude.”
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud told the Chronicle a few days ago that GECOM has a framework in place to facilitate the conduct of elections.
According to him, once President Donald Ramotar announces a date for general and regional elections, the necessary timelines will be fixed into the framework and the Commission will kick into action. “The framework we have in place will metamorphose into a work plan for the efficient conduct of general and regional elections.”
Persaud also informed that the three-month period needed by GECOM between the date Parliament is dissolved and Elections Day fits into the Commission’s framework. “Within the framework, there are various statutory and administrative requirements which must be completed and are relevant to the efficient management and conduct of general and regional elections.”
Furthermore, he said a component of the framework is Claims and Objections which has to be done to ensure that GECOM has an OLE (Official List of Electors) for general and regional elections.
The seventh cycle of continuous registration commenced on November 30th, 2014, and allowed persons the opportunity to register for the first time, conduct transfers and make changes to their registration details.
New registrations, currently being verified, number 6,003 persons, while there were also 1,163 changes and corrections to existing registration information, and 1,248 transfers due to issues related to change of address, etc.
At the end of the sixth cycle of continuous registration, in the latter part of June, there were registrations of some 14,981 new persons, 14,942 of whom have already been verified. There were also 2,004 transfers, owing to issues related to changes of address, and 2,747 changes/corrections to existing registration information. Prior to the sixth cycle of continuous registration, the last such exercise ended in December 2013.
An announcement from President Donald Ramotar on a date for general and regional elections is expected to be made soon.