CHIEF scrutineers and other political party representatives met with the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) earlier this week to discuss the upcoming Claims and Objections period, set to begin on Monday. 

During the meeting, GECOM clearly outlined the mechanisms and procedures currently in place for the efficient management of the forthcoming Claims and Objections exercise.
During this Claims and Objections period, in addition to GECOM’s permanent offices, GECOM will be dispatching mobile units throughout the interior locations of Guyana, as well as establishing several temporary offices in all divisions and sub-divisions.
The forthcoming Claims and Objections period is an essential one for GECOM as the Commission sanitises the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE).
The Claims period provides eligible electors who reach the specific requirements of GECOM – persons 18 years and older by April 30, 2015 – who are not registered, an opportunity to gain entry onto the PLE. It also provides a window of opportunity to those persons already registered who are desirous of having changes made to their registration information and/or have corrections made to their registration information currently entered on the Preliminary Voters List. Electors already registered could request transfers if they have moved from one sub division to another, or from one registration area to another.
During the Objections phase, electors may visit the appropriate registration office in their sub-division or registration area to object to an entry in the PLE.
GECOM also gave the chief scrutineers and the political party representatives all confidence and assurances that all the relevant systems in keeping with the standard operating procedures for the conduct of Claims and Objections exercise, will be in place and functioning optimally.
The various parties represented at the meeting were the Justice For All Party (JFAP), the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), A Partnership for National Unity, (APNU), the Peoples National Congress Reform (PNCR), the National Front Alliance (NFA), the National Independent Party (NIP), the United Republican Party (URP) and the Healing of the Nation Theocracy Party.
GECOM’s Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, was accompanied by the Deputy CEO, Vishnu Persaud, Legal Officer, Juanita Barker, and the Logistics Manager, Colin April at the meeting.