…GECOM says voter education campaign going smoothly

THERE is nothing complicated about the hosting of this year’s Local Government Elections (LGE), says the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM).

According to the Commission, it has been engaging citizens across the country with the aim of educating them about LGE. Deputy Chief Elections Officer Vishnu Persaud told reporters that the GECOM has been conducting an aggressive civic and voter education campaign across the country, and this will continue, given that the four Local Authority Areas that are “no contest areas” have been identified.

NEW DIMENSION
“What is going to happen now, especially where it relates to cases where the CEO mentioned that we will not be having contest in 149 Constituencies and four Local Authority Areas, this necessitates embarking on a new dimension insofar as civic and voter education is concerned, simply because persons know in their minds that they are required to vote twice,” Persaud explained.

He said persons are required to make their choice at the top and bottom halves of the ballot paper, but given the no-contest in identified areas, for example in the Constituencies, persons will only be voting once. In the case of Local Authority Areas, where there would be no elections, persons will query. As such, in the case of members of the Disciplined Services, who are to take to the polls on March 8, they may enquire as to why their names are not on the list to vote.

“You can see the enormity of the task that confronts us? And we are aware of it and we do have a plan which will unfold to ensure that all of the affected persons are provided with the information that will arm them to participate at LGE,” Persaud said.

He said some ranks of the Disciplined Services would no longer have to vote because “somebody has already won; a party and an individual.”

Persaud said that insofar as GECOM’s education campaign is progressing, the Commission has been aggressive and has a comprehensive plan. He explained that the entity has experienced some challenges, as it has reached out to stakeholders but the response was lukewarm.

CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS
“One disappointing part of the strategy is that we wrote letters to 96 civil society organisations across Guyana, inviting them to arrange meetings with their respective membership so that we can go and provide information about LGE… To date, I can report only 5 would have responded favourably; and up to Wednesday, we were invited to a meeting where it was a total no-show,” he explained.

He said GECOM is on an “all-out campaign to provide information about LGE using every available medium.” In the case of grassroots levels, the Commission has field staff working with PA systems, distributing flyers and brochures at market places and ports of exit and entry, putting our materials at supermarkets and other places.
“We have not spared any effort insofar as this is concerned,” remarked the Deputy CEO.

He stressed that GECOM’s civic and voter strategy as it relates to LGE began in 2010. “We have been sending out staff that (are) competent and knowledgeable in the entire LGE processes, and I can say (that) while some of the responses were lukewarm, we are also pleased that some were well attended and the interactions were fruitful.”

Meanwhile, voter education for the Disciplined Services is to begin on February 8, while the Commission will embark on having billboards mounted to indicate to the electorate where their respective constituencies are. Billboards will be erected in every constituency, the Commission said.

NO CENTRAL DECLARATION
Meanwhile, Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield has said there will be no central declaration of LGE results, but noted that the results within each respective constituency is likely to be announced early.

“There is no central arrangement that speaks to an announcement of results that is done centrally by the CEO. The ROs (Returning Officers) in each of these Local Authority Areas are mandated by law to go through the entire process, (which) takes us from nomination to elections to the declaration of elections in their LAA. (There will be) no central declaration,” he noted.

Lowenfield noted that the Commission, through its secretariat, will be supervising the entire process.

Asked to state whether there will be international observers overlooking the conduct of the elections, GECOM officials said that it has not been informed of this by the government. The officials said that those desirous of being observers would approach the government with a request, and that information would be passed on to GECOM.