— voter turnout peaks at 54%

Story and photos by Nafeeza Yahya

POLLING Day in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) started on the stroke of 06:00hrs on Friday. As in other administrative regions throughout the country, members of the disciplined services took to polling stations in their districts to exercise their franchise at Local Government Elections (LGEs).

It would be the second time they would do so since the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)+ Alliance For Change (AFC) coalition government took offce back in 2015.

And despite the fact that the pace was somewhat slow, the process itself was relatively smooth throughout the day, barring one minor hiccup whereby some policemen turned up to vote in their respective neigbourhoods and found that their names were not on the lists.
This means that they will now have to cast their votes on Monday, November 12 with the rest of the populace.

A tally of the number of registered voters at the five polling stations in the region showed that there were 595 in toto. Fifty of them were slated to vote at the Springlands Police Station; 141 at the Whim Police Station; 14 at the New Amsterdam army base; 277 at the New Amsterdam Town Hall; and the final 113 at the New Amsterdam Prison.

Among those persons were members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), including trainees; The Guyana Fire Service (GFS); The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and Guyana Prison Service (GPS).

For the two Corentyne polling stations, turnout was pegged at an average of 54%, with 70 and 34 voters, or 49% and 68% respectively for Whim and Skeldon.
Speaking with the media at around 16:30 hrs, APNU Party Chairman for Region Six, Kirk Fraser, said he was pleased with the turnout thus far; he was optimistic that by the close of voting at 18:00hrs, around 80 to 90% of the registered voters would turn up.

The PPP Regional Representative, Zamal Hussain, on the other hand, pegged overall turnout at 39% for Region Six, which to him was a great disappointment.
Said he: “People need to take LGEs very seriously, and being members of the disciplined services, I expected them to lead by example so others can follow suit on November 12.
“I believe the government should declare Elections Day a national holiday, so that everyone can turn out and vote.”

Earlier in the day, senior officers were seen encouraging their junior ranks to go out and vote as is their democratic right. What was notable at some polling stations was that even though the names of some officers were on the list, they did not feel compelled to vote; many as much as said that unlike general elections, LGEs are of no consequence.

On the other hand, those trainee officers who were voting for the very first time in their young lives could be seen brimming with excitement as they made their way to the polling stations.
As one told the Guyana Chronicle, this was his first time voting, and he was more than happy to be able to exercise that right.