CURRENTLY, over 1,300 persons are being trained at 16 locations in Georgetown to become assistant registration officers (ARO) and enumerators for the conduct of house-to-house registration, which is likely to commence in late May or early June.

The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) commenced the two-day training exercise for the Georgetown leg on Saturday at 16 primary and secondary schools, including Cummings Lodge Secondary, Sophia Primary, New Campbellville Secondary, St. Joseph High, Carmel Secondary and Dolphin Secondary.

Participants are being taught the management of house-to-house registration which includes team-work and time management; code of conduct; the role of scrutineers; and the organisational structure. They are also learning the system of house-to-house registration which details not only the process but why, how and where persons must register, as well as source documents.

At the New Campbellville Secondary School, where two sessions were being run concurrently with a total of 113 trainees, GECOM’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Yolanda Warde, told reporters that 1,332 persons in Georgetown were enlisted to complete the two-day training exercise. However, the actual number of persons that completed the training will be determined today at the end of the last evaluation. It was explained that in order to qualify to become an assistant registration officer or an enumerator, a trainee must successfully complete both days of training.

Ward said that the number (1,332) represents a fraction of the total number of persons who would be trained countrywide to become assistant registration officers and enumerators. More than 12,000 have applied to GECOM for the temporary positions.
“This is the first week of training for the assistant registration officers and enumerators. We start in Georgetown, but next week we will be in another location with a full team, whether it is the East Coast or East Bank or wherever is decided,” Warde said.

Over the next six to eight weeks, training sessions for assistant registration officers and enumerators will be held in different parts of the country. The training sessions for the assistant registration officers and enumerators commenced one week after the training of trainers session was conducted. Approximately 100 core trainers were trained and the successful trainers now form part of GECOM’s team conducting the training sessions for the assistant registration officers and enumerators.

FULLY TRAINED
“While a lot of them might have been exposed to a lot of the content in terms of elections, registration is another aspect, and so we wanted to ensure that these trainers are fully trained within the confines of the law. The registration of itself is conducted within the confines of the National Registration Act, Chapter 19:08 and so even the materials that are developed for the training exercise is really an extract from what comes out from the law,” Warde explained.

The Elections Commission PRO noted that if the quota of persons trained is not sufficient to successfully complete house-to-house registration, GECOM would be required to advertise and do a second round of training. “But all things being equal, we are hoping to wrap up training within a six to eight-week period,” she posited, while noting that a number cluster offices will be established within the various divisions ahead of the conduct of house-to-house registration.

“These cluster offices would be manned particularly by the assistant registration officers, who will be reporting to the registration officers and so we would want those offices to be set up at least a week or two weeks before they actually get in the field,” she said.
According to Warde, house-to-house registration will commence in late May or early June. She said enumerators, in training, have been warned against knowingly registering a person more than once. By law, an enumerator who commits such an offence can be fined $16,250 or face imprisonment for six months. Similar penalties are in place for a registrant who attempts to register twice. Using its biometric system, GECOM can determine if a person has registered twice.

“Biometric, it is captured through the fingerprinting exercise. So there is a cross- matching exercise that happens in every registration phase, so we are able to pull duplicated transactions, so no applicant can ideally register more than once,” Warde explained.
GECOM has been allocated approximately $3B for the conduct of house-to-house registration. The current Official List of Electors will expire on April 30, 2019.