MINOR hiccups were the only “bumps in the road” of what was an otherwise smooth process whereby over 7,000 ranks of the Disciplined Services cast their votes yesterday, according to Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), Dr Steve Surujbally.“There were minor, unexpected hiccups that turned up,” he told the Chronicle in a telephone interview.
Dr Surujbally disclosed that among the hiccups was the fact that some GECOM staffers were not wearing their identification cards and some polling stations opened later than the 6:00AM scheduled start time.
“Most polling stations opened on time. A few polling stations did not have the signage of the alpha-split…that is not what we trained for,” he said.
The less than acceptable behaviour of some ranks of the Disciplined Services was also listed among yesterday’s glitches. “It was a bit disappointing that the police at one location did not conduct themselves in a disciplined manner,” Dr Surujbally lamented.
He added that some voters without identification who turned up to vote were also subjected by party agents to intense questioning, which for the most part was deemed unnecessary.
“There was one of the party agents who when a person did not come with their identification, they asked for their details, even after the folio [folder with bio-data and a picture of the voter] details were clear. That blocked up the line a little,” the GECOM Chairman said.
The last hiccup he cited was the fact that on one occasion a voter did not indicate to her principal that she would be voting, so was not scheduled to vote yesterday.
Dr Surujbally explained that the Official List of Electors (OLE) guides who are eligible to vote and the names of Disciplined Services ranks were extracted from the OLE to facilitate voting yesterday. In the event that a rank preferred to vote on May 11, he or she would have been required to indicate this desire to their principals, so that their names remained on the OLE and are not part of the list of names extracted to facilitate yesterday’s voting. The extraction negated the possibility of one person voting twice, one of many such measures.
Additionally, in anticipation of criticisms from stakeholders in the electoral process, the GECOM Chairman said, “We disregard the essential and the important and pounce on the non-essential and that is not something that should not be done. It gives us an idea that we must not have these mistakes.”
Consequently, he assured that the Commission’s workplan and undertakings remain on track and stressed that all expectations, given the efforts made, are that the May 11 General and Regional elections will run off smoothly.
NEXT STEP
The term “smooth running” was adopted by the Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, who noted that yesterday’s processes went well.
“From all my reports, at all 66 locations things went well,” he declared.
Asked about security measures in place for the ballot boxes, Lowenfield made it clear that with the assistance of the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), stringent security measures have been put in place.
The ballot boxes are being held in containers under lock and key at the GECOM headquarters.
Meanwhile, an advisory from GECOM noted that the ballot papers issued to members of the Disciplined Forces will not be stamped with the official six-digit stamp when they are given to ranks for them to vote.
“The Ballot Papers WILL be stamped on Election Day, when they are sent to be intermixed and counted on Elections Day at Polling Stations that will be gazetted, as is required by law. GECOM takes this opportunity to guarantee that the votes cast by all members of the Disciplined Forces WILL BE COUNTED on Election Day,” the Commission said.
On the question of when the ballots will be sorted, the Chief Elections Officer disclosed that this will be done at a time that is still to be decided.
Lowenfield added that the disclosure of this undertaking will be subject to security considerations.
GECOM Commissioners, at a meeting today, are expected to be fully briefed on yesterday’s process of voting by members of the Disciplined Services, who included ranks from the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Prison Service and Fire Service.
The voting process was subject to the scrutiny of the agents of the contesting political parties, as well as local and international observer missions.
With voting completed by members of the Disciplined Forces, the Guyanese civilian population heads to the polls on May 11, a mere eight days away.