THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has announced that the period of Claims and Objections (C&O) for the upcoming elections will commence on October 1, 2019 and end on November 18, 2019.

However, citizens have until November 11, 2019 to make claims to be included on the list if they are a Guyanese citizen by birth, descent, naturalisation or registration, 18 years or older, or will attain the age of 18 by 31st December, 2019. The same goes for a citizen of a Commonwealth country living in Guyana for a period of no less than one year preceding 31st December, 2019.

According to the commission, the exercise provides eligible electors the opportunity to gain entry to the List of electors or make transfers, changes or objections to particulars in the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE). It is to be conducted following publication of the PLE at the registration offices/sub-office.

GECOM highlighted: “During this exercise, every person whose name appears on the Preliminary List of Electors (PLE) must visit the registration office in their respective area with their National Identification Card to verify their registration record in order to be included in the Official List of Electors (OLE).”

At the same time, persons who require changes or corrections to their particulars and transfers in relation to their addresses are asked to do same when verifying their registration.

Meanwhile, objections against the inclusion of names on the PLE can be tendered to the registration officer of the Registration Area from October 1 to November 18. “Over the next few days, the commission will set up temporary offices and mobiles countrywide to aid the efficient conduct of the exercise and will publish the full list of those offices to ensure applicants or registrants can access the office within close proximity to them to have their transaction done,” the commission informed the public.

The commission continues with the training of polling day staff. So far, the agency has trained over 6,000 persons from 86 locations within sections of Georgetown, the East Coast and East Bank and Regions One, Two, Five and 10. The commission will be moving to the East Berbice-Corentyne region over the weekend where some 2,400 persons from 25 locations, are expected to be trained.

Misinformation of GECOM Secretariat

Meanwhile, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) nominated Commissioners are contending that a “mischievous” act of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Secretariat is working to extend the period of Claims and Objections for new elections.

At a press conference on Friday at the Leader of the Opposition’s office, Commissioners Sase Gunraj and Robeson Benn called for an investigation to be launched into the matter and, if needs be, for sanctions to come against individual players within the secretariat. Prior to the press conference, the secretariat had sent out a media release which indicated that Claims and Objections would commence on October 1, 2019 and will conclude on November, 18 2019 – a total of 49 days.

However, the PPP-nominated commissioners contested that the commission last agreed to a period of 35 days. Furthermore, Gunraj stated that when he brought this information to GECOM Chair (Ret’d) Justice Claudette Singh, she allegedly seemed surprised and unaware that the change was made. The commissioner told media practitioners that the chair stated that she would hold a meeting with the secretariat to receive clarification on the issue.