SOME 67 Guyanese based at Guyana’s Embassies and Consulates at 15 locations in 13 countries will be casting their votes at the upcoming May 11 General and Regional Elections.This was confirmed by Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr. Steve Surujbally, in an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle yesterday.

This newspaper’s queries on the matter followed the publication of the names of Ballot Officers based in the overseas territories last week.
The countries listed include: Barbados, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, India, Kuwait, South Africa, Suriname, United Kingdom, United States of America and Venezuela.
The Ballot Officers in the country include: Mr. Michael Brotherson – Barbados; Ms. Bevon McDonald – Belgium; Mrs. Merlin Udho and Mrs. Marissa Carmichael – Brazil; Mr. Harry Narine Nawbatt and Mrs. Saryawaattie Sawh – Canada; Mr. David Dabydeen – China; Mrs. Mitra Devi Ali – Cuba; Mr. Ronald Gajraj – India; Mr. Safraaz Shadood – Kuwait; Ms. Barbara Hayley -South Africa; Mr. Keith George and Mr. Arlington Bancroft – Suriname; Mr. Laleshwar Singh – United Kingdom; Mr. Bayney Karran and Brentnold Evans – United States of America; Mr. Geoffrey Da Silva – Venezuela.
Guyana’s Ballot Officer is Ms. Paula Maxwell.
According to the GECOM Chairman, the votes will be cast and sealed in an envelope and the data will be transmitted to the Commission.
“They are Guyanese and they will be allowed to vote,” Dr. Surujbally assured.
Given Guyana’s historic experiences with rigged elections from the 1968 and subsequent investigative reports detailing the incidents from international news agencies, legal changes were made to ensure that Guyanese who have migrated are not permitted to cast a vote from an overseas country.
Dr. Surujbally agreed that the past experiences have left a bad taste in the mouths of Guyanese.
Section 159 of Guyana’s constitution states that: “No person shall vote at an election unless he or she is registered as an elector” after being qualified to be registered as an elector. This provision also detailed that the qualification criteria includes being a Guyanese citizen and resident in Guyana for a year prior to a pre-determined qualification date. (Vanessa Narine)