…Essequibo residents up pressure for house-to-house registration

By Indrawattie Natram

WITH the voters’ list reportedly containing some 200,000 incorrect entries, scores of Essequibo residents, on Thursday, protested in front of the Guyana Elections Commission, Region Two office, as part of a national call for House-to-House Registration before the holding of the impending general elections.

The protest was led by the PNC/R Regional Chairman, Prince Holder, accompanied by other supporters and even some residents. Chanting “We want House-to-House registration or else no Elections” protesters kept up a lively chant in front of the GECOM office.

According to Holder, many Essequibians are calling for the registration process to commence before the hosting of elections. He said a lot of young people want to be able to vote at the upcoming elections but are not on the list. “The house-to-house registration will allow persons to be part of the electoral process, it’s only fair that we register persons who want to be a part of such,” Holder told the Guyana Chronicle on the picket line. Residents are therefore calling on GECOM to cleanse the list and to ensure the names of young voters are included on it. Some of the slogans on the placards read: “GECOM, the present list is no good,’ ‘We need a new voters’ list;” “house-to-house registration before Elections.

President David Granger, earlier this week, said it is now clear that the Guyanese people need certainty about the future and a way forward. “I want to outline a clear path. It is essential that we hold fair, free and credible elections. We cannot proceed on the current list of voters. It is outdated and corrupted. It may hold as many as 200,000 incorrect entries. What’s more, those who have reached the age of 18 years since the last election are not on it.”

According to the President, the Constitution entitles all citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote. “It is a democratic imperative that house-to-house registration be completed swiftly so we can have an election at the earliest opportunity. The Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission, Justice Patterson, has previously informed me that the Commission will be ready to hold elections in November 2019. This will be after the completion of house-to-house registration. I now await a recommendation for a specific date from GECOM and I will then issue a proclamation.”

He noted that the country will be heading to the polls and there is going to be a crucial choice for our citizens. “A choice to decide the future of our country and, most importantly, the future with regard to jobs, living standards, and education for our children,” President Granger said.

He alluded to the recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report on Guyana in which the fund indicated that the government was on the right path in respect to management of Guyana’s oil resources. “Guyanese will be given the choice to elect a government they trust to continue on this path, to keep Guyana moving forward, to secure a better life for every family with the united APNU+AFC coalition, or risk our future by returning to the past,” the Guyanese leader said in his address