THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has received 558 applications for new registration, 103 applications for transfers, eight applications for entry into the Preliminary List of Voters (PLV) using Form 4 and 192 applications for changes or corrections 72 hours after the commencement of the Claims and Objections Exercises for Local Government Elections.“Our returns to date are favourable. We have new registrants and also quite a lot of transfer transactions were done over the last 72 hours,” Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield said on Thursday.
The Claims and Objections Exercise commenced on Monday with the aim of producing a Register of Voters (RoV) for each of the nine Municipalities and more than sixty two (62) Neighbourhood Democratic Councils (NDCs). The exercise will conclude on December 13.
Speaking at a media briefing Lowenfield noted that while GECOM had received several applications for registration over the 70 hours of the commencement of the Claims and Objections period, it was too soon to project the final numbers. He is hopeful that persons would take full advantage of the Claims and Objections period.
Lowenfield noted that lists had been posted in every local authority area with Georgetown being the largest comprising 15 constituencies; the Municipality with the most constituencies. Potential voters or those who wish to clarify their status quo can check the lists posted and make a claim to be on the list if they do not see their names.
“…no doubt whatever transactions are required, they can make a claim to be on the list, they can request a transfer, request a change of their addresses or they can apply routinely for a name change.
“The process of Claims aims to ensure that all eligible electors within their constituencies are catered to, so that they will be on our final and official list so they can exercise their franchise as they see necessary whenever the date for election is announced.”
To facilitate the Claims and Objection exercise, 160 offices were established where transactions can be done in all local authorities.
Lowenfield noted that during the course of the Claims and Objections, those who request transfers from non-local authority areas to local authority areas will be granted.

“What we are also doing during the course of the Claims and Objections, as you are aware, not all Guyana is located in a local authority area and therefore persons who are living in non-local authority areas; those who probably will transfer themselves into local authority areas we will treat with those but concomitantly with our C&O is a registration exercise that seeks to register persons who are living in these non-local authority areas; those who would have a registration transaction to do though they are living outside of a local authority area. That registration period also captures the said period of the C&O exercise.”
Though no objections have been made during the exercise so far, persons have the opportunity to object to those listed in their divisions and sub-divisions particularly in their constituencies.
The Chief Elections Officer added that after the completion of the Claims and Objections exercise in December, an administrative process will be employed to ensure that all claimants or new electors that are registered are “cross matched with the remainder of our database to ensure that it is only one elector listed and there is no duplicity or duplication to our list.”
“Once that administrative sub-set is completed we are moving towards certification of the list; (and) inform the honorable Minister that he can pronounce on a particular date for elections.”

GECOM’s Readiness

Pointing to GECOM’s readiness for the elections, Lowenfield said the Commission had to ensure that all “areas that have lacunae especially those of a legal nature were satisfied.”
“We had to wait until the Honourable Minister of Communities had indicated to us those local authority areas, be they the Municipalities or NDCs (and whether they) were properly established within the ambit of the law before we commenced this exercise. Sometimes you hear noises about commencement…(but) we are operating within the framework of the laws that guide the operations of the conduct of local elections in Guyana.”

PUBLIC RELATIONS DRIVE
GECOM announced that it also embarked on a “full-fledged information drive at grass roots level with the use of Public Announcement (PA) systems and flyers, while awaiting the production of infomercials via the electronic media. “We are now engaged with placements of the infomercials via every available electronic media house. This will be done in addition to the publication of full page advertisements in the print media focusing on specific aspects of the Claims and Objections exercise initially and then with a shift towards Local Government Elections. These activities are included in a comprehensive Civic and Voter Education Strategy which has already been approved by the Commission.”
By Ariana Gordon